Oscars 2014: A-list actresses throw down the gauntlet
FABULOUSLY feisty best actress Oscar candidates have been tackling some red carpet taboos lately.
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MERYL Streep dropped the F-bomb (feminism), outed Walt Disney as a “gender bigot”, and accused poet Ezra Pound of anti-Semitism.
Emma Thompson tackled two taboos — menopause and the crippling discomfort of high heels — in the one speech.
And Cate Blanchett took a camera operator to task for the crotch-level position of his lens.
Award season, for women, has traditionally meant frocking up and focusing entirely on the decorative arts
Which is probably why this year’s fabulously feisty Oscar best actress candidates have caused such a stir.
In such a carefully-controlled environment, where an army of publicists is employed to rework celebrities’ comments into homogenous platitudes, their honesty has been startling.
“Right now what we are seeing in Hollywood is a critical mass of senior female talent who are fairly unassailable at this point in their careers,’’ says Catharine Lumby, Professor of Media at Macquarie University.
“Let’s hope it’s not just a blip on the radar, that we are actually seeing a shift from a Hollywood that has been dominated by attractive younger women teamed up with older men who seem to be able to age in the public eye in way that women are punished for when they probably at the height of other talent.”
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The average age of this year’s Oscar best actress nominees — Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Amy Adams (American Hustle), Judi Dench (Philomena) and Meryl Streep (August: Osage County) — is 55.
“There is a kind of liberation for women that comes with age,’’ says Lumby.
“It isn’t commented on much, but I think you grow into your skin, really, from your 40s on, especially if you are someone who is at the top of their professional game.
“There’s a licence to actually call out some of the sexism that you have encountered along the way.”
Perhaps young, up-and-coming actresses do have to accept that lascivious cameras are part of the red carpet deal.
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Someone of Cate Blanchett’s stature, however, has earned the right to draw a line in the sand.
Adding to the potency of the women’s comments is the fact that they were uttered in public domain.
“It’s terrific that they are using that power to tell it like it is,” says Australian producer Rosemary Blight (The Sapphires).
“There is a sense of: “Oh my god, she had the guts to say that!’
“They are quite political moves.”
Plain talking in a penguin-suited environment, where no one is used to hearing people say what they really think, comes across as deliciously transgressive.
Streep and Thompson’s hilarious National Board of review speeches went instantly viral.
“I sent it to every woman I know,’’ says Blight.
“It really resonated.”
Blanchett, Streep and Thompson might be in an enviable position where they can speak out without fear of retribution, but Blight still describes their actions as brave.
“Meryl called herself a feminist in that speech. It’s the F word. It’s still not a word that everyone understands.”
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Making Streep and Thompson’s sensationally subversive double-act more palatable, of course, is their judicious use of humour.
There’s no way they would have got the same mileage out of a self-righteous feminist rant.
“Often the strongest truths can be delivered with the greatest impact through humour and satire,’’ says Lumby.
“It’s a way of bringing your audience with you, but you can tell some pretty serious truths at the same time.
Two-time Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver, 66, has successfully navigated her way through two awards seasons by using wit and wisdom to tell it like it is.
She continued that tradition earlier this year at the ACCTA Awards in Sydney, where she became the first actress ever to be presented with the Raymond Longford lifetime achievement award.
“Know your lines, hit your marks, be punctual and you are half way there,’’ was her advice to young actors.
“And if you get a crush on someone in the art department, the camera department, the sound department or a grip or a gaffer, feel free to follow it through — as long as it doesn’t interfere with your work.”
“Jacki is an absolutely fantastic example of defying many of the so-called limitations on women, being the No 1 thing at her age,’’ says producer Liz Watts (Animal Kingdom.)
“And she really deserves it.”
Watts hopes the new wave of actresses currently making their mark in Hollywood can build on the legacy of women like Streep and Weaver.
“Jennifer Lawrence has done it from a very early career point,’’ she says.
“She has always had a very strong opinion on publicity and what it means and she hasn’t been afraid to convey that.”
No one, however, is under the illusion that Hollywood is a level playing field.
There isn’t one woman in the list of best director nominees this year. And only one female director — Kathryn Bigelow — has ever taken home a statuette.
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