‘Selma’ Backlash: Is It a Gender Issue?

So what can women do about these smear campaigns directed at films by women? Go see films directed by women, support these filmmakers any way you can, whether it’s by filling theaters or participating in social media campaigns. We may not be able to change Academy voters’ minds, but we can continue drawing attention to gender disparities and focus on the positive changes.

This guest post by Lauren Byrd previously appeared at her blog and is cross-posted with permission.

Oscar nominations haven’t been announced yet, but there’s already a campaign to dethrone an Oscar hopeful. Selma, directed by Ava DuVernay, is a solid choice for film critics (100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), but in the weeks following its release, the film has come up against criticism for its portrayal of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

During a time when the holiday season detracts from awards season, historians and former members of the Johnson administration voiced their concerns with the film.

Three days before the film’s release, Mark K. Updegrove, the director of the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Texas, wrote a piece in Politico, titled, “What Selma Gets Wrong”:

In the film, President Johnson resists King’s pressure to sign a voting rights bill, which—according to the movie’s take—is getting in the way of dozens of other Great Society legislative priorities. Indeed, Selma’s obstructionist LBJ is devoid of any palpable conviction on voting rights. Vainglorious and power hungry, he unleashes his zealous pit bull, FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, on King, who is determined to march in protest from Selma to Montgomery despite LBJ’s warning that it will be “open season” on the protesters. This characterization of the 36th president flies in the face of history. In truth, the partnership between LBJ and MLK on civil rights is one of the most productive and consequential in American history.

Updegrove makes his argument about what is and isn’t right about this portrayal, but what the articles about the “Selma controversy” in The New York TimesThe Wrap, and other media sites haven’t mentioned is that Updegrove also states that much of the film is correct and an accurate portrayal of the events of that time.
A former aide to Johnson Joseph A. Califano, Jr., wrote a similar piece in The Washington Post and on New Year’s Eve, The New York Times highlighted the charges of inaccuracy against the film in a piece by Jennifer Schuessler, which quoted several LBJ focused authors and historians.
Ava DuVernay on set of Selma
Ava DuVernay on set of Selma
DuVernay isn’t standing silently in the face of the recent criticism. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, she said, “I wasn’t interested in making a white-savior movie; I was interested in making a movie centered on the people of Selma.”
It’s hard not to compare the sudden firestorm of controversy surrounding a potential Oscar hopeful to the controversy in the 2013 Oscar season that befell Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty.The debate about that particular film was based on its portrayal of torture and whether the film showed enhanced interrogation techniques producing intelligence that led to Osama bin Laden. Many journalists who had covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as national security, thought the film glorified torture, while film critics classified the film as an accurate depiction of the dark decisions made by the U.S. government during the murkiness of the post-9/11 decade.
It’s even more difficult not to note that both these films are directed by women. While questions about accuracy were also brought up about Lincoln during the 2013 awards season, which was directed by a man Steven Spielberg, the backlash against Zero Dark Thirty drowned out any questions around Spielberg’s film. As a result, Bigelow did not receive a Best Director nomination while Spielberg did. The inaccuracies in Argo, of which there were many, were not as widely discussed, and both Ben Affleck and the film went on to win Oscars.
Selma
Selma
This year, another film directed by a man, Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher, has recently undergone criticism from Mark Schultz, one of the brothers whom the film is based on. But FlavorWire has already written a piece defending the film against Schultz’s remarks.
Compared to Foxcatcher, which has been in theaters since November, the controversy around Selma has received more media play and it’s possible the charges of inaccuracies from historians will affect how future audiences view the film. (It opens nationwide on Friday.)

These smear campaigns against films helmed by women are yet another sign of the disparity of the treatment of men and women in the film industry. So are these smear campaigns a gender issue or simply a coincidence?

As someone who knows enough about the industry to know that the Academy Awards are certainly not based on merit or artistry, but rather on money and publicity, it was still hard to believe smear campaigns were a reality until the 2013 Oscar race when Zero Dark Thirty‘s awards season chances quickly diminish.

Kathryn Bigelow moderating a Q&A with Ava DuVernay after a screening of Selma
Kathryn Bigelow moderating a Q&A with Ava DuVernay after a screening of Selma

 

So what can women do about these smear campaigns directed at films by women? Go see films directed by women, support these filmmakers any way you can, whether it’s by filling theaters or participating in social media campaigns. We may not be able to change Academy voters’ minds, but we can continue drawing attention to gender disparities and focus on the positive changes. Michelle MacLaren directing Wonder Woman, for instance.

While it’s unclear what effect the controversy will have on Selma and DuVernay’s Oscar chances, let’s hope that in the future, audiences and Academy voters learn how to think for themselves rather than be carried away by the most recent awards season smear campaign. Man or woman.

 


Lauren Byrd has a master’s degree from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. She’s worked in television and recently worked as part of the education team at Brave New Films. 

 

Bitch Flicks’ Weekly Picks

Check out what we’ve been reading this week–and let us know what you’ve been reading/writing in the comments!

A List of All of Women and Hollywood’s End-Of-Year Coverage by Melissa Silverstein and Inkoo Kang at Women and Hollywood

Margaret Keane’s Eyes Are Wide Open by Carl Swanson at Vulture

In Hollywood, It’s a Men’s, Men’s, Men’s World by Manohla Dargis at The New York Times

The Women of Hollywood’s Men’s Men’s Men’s World by Melissa Silverstein at Women and Hollywood

The Best of Black Television in 2014 by Curtis Caesar John at Shadow and Act

9 Ways The Media Failed Women In 2014 by Alexandrea Boguhn, Olivia Kittel, Olivia Marshall, and Lis Power at Media Matters for America

10 Reasons It Was Actually a Great Year for Women in Movies by Katey Rich at Vanity Fair

How Pop Culture Can Change The Way We Talk About Abortion by Lauren Duca at The Huffington Post

The 10 Most Feminist Ads of 2014 by Brianna Kovan at Ms. blog

 

What have you been reading/writing this week? Tell us in the comments!

 

 

 

Bitch Flicks’ Weekly Picks

Check out what we’ve been reading this week–and let us know what you’ve been reading/writing in the comments!

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African-American Women in Cinema Film Fest Announces 2014 Lineup (November 19-22) by Tambay A. Obenson at Shadow and Act

Betty White, The Golden Girl From The Golden Days Of Television at NPR

Must-See: Spike Lee Slams The Idea Of a ‘Post-Racial America’ by Jolie A. Doggett at Essence

Natalie Dormer: “We Don’t Have Enough Young, Female Antiheroes” by Victoria McNally at The Mary Sue

Forgotten Women of Film History: Lois Weber by Kitty Lindsay at Ms. blog

Todd Solondz Plots Sort of Sequel to ‘Welcome to the Dollhouse’ With Greta Gerwig (Exclusive) at The Hollywood Reporter

Ryan Potter – Big Hero 6′s “Hiro” by Momo Chang at Center for Asian American Media

 

What have you been reading/writing this week? Tell us in the comments!

 

Bitch Flicks’ Weekly Picks

Check out what we’ve been reading this week–and let us know what you’ve been reading/writing in the comments!

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#IfTheyGunnedMeDown Shows How Black People Are Portrayed in Mainstream Media by Yesha Callahan at The Root

Why Lauren Bacall was one of Hollywood’s greatest feminist icons by Andrew O’Hehir at Salon

3 things you might not know about the badass feminist icon Lauren Bacall by Katie at Feministing

4 Ways Robin Williams Changed the Way We Think About Feminism and Gay Rights by Derrick Clifton at Mic.

First-Look Photos From Ava DuVernay’s ‘Selma’ by Tambay A. Obenson at Shadow and Act

Lyle Director Stewart Thorndike on Making the Lesbian Version of Rosemary’s Baby and the Need for Feminist Horror by Kelcie Mattson at Women and Hollywood

Movie Review: Sister, An Intimate Portrait Of A Global Crisis by Amanda at Bust

Sam Taylor-Johnson, Lisa Cholodenko, Sarah Polley and Other Female Directors on the Movies That Influenced Them by Jeff Oloizia at T

Ayn Rand’s The Devil Wears Prada by Mallory Ortberg at The Toast

We Heart: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Self-Proclaimed Feminist by Emily Shugerman at Ms. blog

Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson: Trans Pioneers, BFFs, Film Stars by Jamilah King at Colorlines

Sneak Preview Of ‘Women And The Word: The Revival Move’ at 5th Annual Soul of Brooklyn Festival Next Week by Sergio at Shadow and Act

Girls on Film: 5 things that need to happen before Hollywood will ever truly change by Monika Bartyzel at The Week

Sexism and racism permeate music videos, according to new report at The Guardian

Yes, Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Nicole Perlman Wrote A Black Widow Script. But Marvel Has “A Lot On Their Plates.” by Carolyn Cox at The Mary Sue

 

What have you been reading/writing this week? Tell us in the comments!