The Academy Awards ceremony airs Sunday, February 24th at 8pm |
Despite the prevailing (and, to a certain extent, correct) opinions that the Oscars 1) are a political campaign in which the films with the best marketing take home the awards; 2) do not genuinely reflect the best films made every year; 3) promote female objectification (red carpet ridiculousness); and 4) exhibit the continued dominance of the white male filmmaker, we still think they’re important.
Here’s why.
The Academy Awards are the most visible celebration of filmmaking in the United States–and possibly the world. Yet–and despite the misnomer of “liberal Hollywood”–they continue to exhibit cultural values and norms that are conservative and simply unacceptable. Women are typically rewarded for playing roles that support a central male character in films. People of color are rarely nominated for–and even more rarely win–major awards.
We can’t just ignore the Oscars. We need to make our voices heard. That’s one reason we run a series of feminist film reviews on the Best Picture nominees.
These are a few basic guidelines for guest writers on our site:
Full-Length Feature Film Nominees
Amour
Life of Pi
Argo
Lincoln
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Silver Linings Playbook
Django Unchained
Zero Dark Thirty
Les Misérables
The Master
Flight
The Impossible
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
The Sessions
Wreck-It Ralph
Anna Karenina
Mirror Mirror
Skyfall
Snow White and the Huntsman
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
Searching for Sugar Man
Kon-Tiki
No
A Royal Affair
War Witch
Hitchcock
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Chasing Ice
Ted
The Avengers
Prometheus
Moonrise Kingdom
Short Film Nominees
Inocente
Kings Point
Mondays at Racine
Open Heart
Redemption
Paperman
Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”
Head over Heels
Fresh Guacamole
Adam and Dog
Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Curfew
Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)
Henry