A LGBT Look at the 2010 Oscars
By Chris Carpenter
People may remember 2005 as “Oscar’s gayest year” in terms of LGBT-themed nominees, with Brokeback Mountain, Capote and TransAmerica each receiving multiple awards. Happily, the movies and artists vying for the gold this year likely represent the second-highest number of LGBT contenders in Academy Awards’ history.
Leading the pack is Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. The film received six nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Lee Daniels), Best Actress (Gabourey Sidibe) and Best Supporting Actress (Mo’Nique). This deeply felt story of an abused, HIV-positive teenager trying to escape her horrific home life features a sympathetic lesbian teacher (Paula Patton), and her partner.
Daniels is one of only a handful of openly gay directors nominated for an Oscar. Daniels’ homosexuality helped in his approach to Precious, resulting in a powerful film with broad appeal for anyone who has ever felt oppressed or marginalized.
It is unlikely that Daniels will win. While this is unfortunate on one hand, it is tempered by the fact that the winner may be Kathryn Bigelow for her highly acclaimed but little seen drama The Hurt Locker. Many gay critics have said the film is not without a homoerotic sensibility. Bigelow would be the first woman to win the Best Director award. I think this historical opportunity would be enough to clinch it for her, despite some competition from Avatar director (and Bigelow’s ex-husband) James Cameron.
Speaking of Avatar, it leads this year’s nominations along with The Hurt Locker, with nine nominations each. While the movie’s 10-feet tall, loincloth-clad aliens and amazing 3-D effects offer plenty of eye candy for viewers, its plot weaves a familiar hybrid of films like Dune, Fern Gully and Cameron’s own Aliens. This may cost Avatar the Best Picture Oscar, but that doesn’t mean The Hurt Locker is a shoo-in.
With a roster of 10 Best Picture nominees for the first time since 1943, it is possible that any of the nominees could win. Along with aforementioned three, other candidates include: Up in the Air, which I found to be overrated; the surprisingly popular The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock; and Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.
Among this year’s acting nominees, LGBT favorites Bullock (and Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia) are neck-in-neck for Best Actress. I expect Bullock will win, and her award will be well deserved. The sight of Matt Damon in short soccer shorts in Invictus apparently was enough for the Academy to nominate him for Best Supporting Actor. It will be a startling upset, though, if Christoph Waltz fails to win for his supporting performance as the evil-but-charming “Jew hunter” in Inglourious Basterds.
The most noteworthy, overtly gay role among the acting nominees, however, is Colin Firth’s grieving George Falconer in Tom Ford’s beautiful A Single Man, which deserved more recognition. Julianne Moore, largely expected to be nominated for her performance as George’s overly devoted friend, was passed over in favor of Crazy Heart’s Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Firth likely would win Best Actor, if it weren’t for Jeff Bridges’ late-in-the-game performance in Crazy Heart. Also nominated for Best Actor is star-on-the-rise Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).
It’s interesting that the “period piece” costume drama, traditionally a genre all but guaranteed to dominate the Best Picture category, is increasingly on the wane. Such 2009 releases as The Young Victoria, Bright Star, Coco Before Chanel and The Last Station would normally have been included among this year’s top 10. While Last Station’s Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer are deservedly nominated in the acting categories, the other three films were relegated to the Best Costume category. Inglourious Basterds is the only period piece among this year’s Best Picture nominees.
Who do you think will win this year’s Academy Awards? Tune in on March 7 to find out.