Oscar Nominations

So the Oscar nominations were released and there was not a single category in which all of the nominations were earned. There was a lot of internet outrage and discussion about the lack of certain Barbie nominations but quite frankly that was the least of the academy’s problems this year. So instead of picking apart everything that was wrong I am simply going to put forth what each category's nominations should have been. This is what the Oscar nominations would look like if the academy wasn’t sexist and racist and stupid.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Jeffrey Wright - American Fiction /Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer /Kamiki Ryunosuke - Godzilla Minus One /Zac Efron - Iron Claw /Colman Domingo - Rustin

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Sterling K. Brown - American Fiction /Robert Downey Jr. - Oppenheimer /Mark Ruffalo - Poor Things /Robert De Niro- Killer of the Flower Moon/Ryan Gosling - Barbie

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Lily Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon /Emma Stone - Poor Things /Fantasia Barrino - The Color Purple /Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor - Origin /Greta Lee - Past Lives

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Danielle Brooks - The Color Purple /Taraji P. Henson - The Color Purple /Da’Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers /America Ferrera - Barbie /Rachel McAdams - Are You There God? It's Me Margaret

The lesson here is that musicals get dismissed too quickly. There wasn’t a single performance in The Color Purple that was outdone by literally anyone else. With the exception of maybe Ellis-Taylor in Origin. But all of those roles were more nuanced and complex then the current nominations and it's honestly embarrassing for the academy to have overlooked them.

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Nimona /Across the Spiderverse /The Boy and the Heron /Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles /Robot Dreams

Disney bought themselves a nomination that they didn’t deserve end of story.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Poor Things /Iron Claw /The Color Purple /Origin /Oppenheimer

COSTUME DESIGN

Poor Things /Barbie /Napoleon /Godzilla Minus One /Asteroid City

DIRECTING

Justine Triet - Anatomy of the Fall /Ava DuVernay - Origin /Greta Gerwig - Barbie /Blitz Bazawule - The Color Purple /Christopher Nolan - Oppenheimer

The academy has vowed to never nominate more than 1 woman in this category in a single year but the reality is that the women out-directed the men last year and they are not being recognized for it. Greta and Ava have a history of being snubbed by the academy as do directors of color. The fact that Scorsese is nominated for a film where he had the opportunity to tell a good, complex story about indigenous people but chose to center the white guys should tell you everything there is to know about the academy’s thought process…there isn’t one.

BEST PICTURE

American Fiction /Anatomy of the Fall /Barbie /Poor Things /Oppenheimer /Origin /The Color Purple /Iron Claw /The Holdovers /Past Lives

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Barbie /Asteroid City /The Color Purple /Poor Things /Oppenheimer

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

The Color Purple /Origin /Oppenheimer /Poor Things /American Fiction

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

Barbie /Anatomy of the Fall /Past Lives /Polite Society /Asteroid City

Barbie should not be in the adapted screenplay category, end of discussion. The Color Purple not being nominated after being the only property in history to be honestly and successfully adapted 4 times is actually insane. And what Ava DuVernay did with Origin was nothing short of incredible. We all know why these movies aren’t being recognized but we need to keep saying it because knowledge doesn’t make it less upsetting. This years nominations have solidified that Ava DuVernay and Greta Gerwig are going to have to CONTINUE to work 10X harder then Nolan, and Scorcese to make what they want to make even when they have proven themselves to be both artists and financial successes.