Lights, Camera, Action 🎬

Your Guide to the 95th Academy Awards

Hi there! 

At Chief of Stuff we value great stories in whatever form they take. The Quarterly All Hands is our primary venue for sharing stories with you, but we also have a deep love and appreciation for books and films. Tomorrow is the Oscars - a moment that celebrates exceptional storytelling in film. If I were to sum up the focus of this year’s Awards it would be with one word - representation.

We believe that the best stories are diverse and reflect different communities, people, and experiences. But Hollywood has a history of being the exclusionary and this year that tension is not only visible, but being vocalized. Many of the nominees have had tenuous relationships with the film industry and for the first time, we are also hearing their personal stories of racism, sexism, and ageism.

Ke Huy Quan, got his start as the bubbly kid “Short Round” in Indiana Jones and later in the Goonies. He later struggled to find roles and left acting all together focusing on other aspects of filmmaking until Everything Everywhere All At Once (EEAAO) came around. His experience isn’t unique and reflects the challenges most Asian actors have faced since the earliest days of Hollywood. His costar and lead in EEAAO, Michelle Yeoh made history last month winning as the first Asian women to win Best Actress at the SAG awards. This year Everything Everywhere All At Once is nominated for 11 awards (the most) and I hope that the recognition they receive will usher in many more opportunities for the Asian community and other underrepresented populations.

Similarly, Brendan Fraser, found popularity in the nineties as a leading heart throb with films such as Encino Man, George of the Jungle, and the cinematic masterpiece The Mummy - but fell out of the public eye in the 2000s. The reason? A couple of things, but it was largely driven by his experience being sexually assaulted by the former President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (they organize the Golden Globes) at an event in 2003. He became depressed, retreated from the business for many years, and slowly came back to Hollywood. This article in GQ provides more context for his story and how much he’s been through. He’s nominated for Best Actor for his performance in The Whale and I genuinely hope he wins. It’s some of the best acting I have ever witnessed and frankly, he deserves it!

Lastly, ageism is a real issue in Hollywood where many female actors are told they have a “shelf life” as leading ladies. When Cate Blanchett started in her mid-twenties, she thought that she had only five years of acting available to her. Now at fifty-three she’s nominated for her performance in Tár and she’s not alone. Almost all of the nominees for leading actress or supporting actresses are “older women” aka over 40. Michelle Yeoh is 60, Angela Basset is 64, and Jamie Lee Curtis is 64. It shouldn’t be surprising, these are experienced actresses with decades of films in their repertoires. Previously, the challenge has been that roles simply didn’t exist for “older women” so their careers faded away. I, for one, am so happy to see these talented actresses front and center.

At the end of the day, the cinema allows us to connect with something larger than ourselves. For ninety minutes or more, we are able to escape or relate or discover new perspectives, voices, and places. I don’t know who will win tomorrow, but I hope that the Oscar goes to a diverse, previously underrepresented, or unseen actor or actress. These talented individuals deserve their moment in the spotlight and by illuminating these issues that have long persisted in the industry we are closer to creating a more fair, diverse environment where the best stories can thrive.

If you want to venture into some additional Oscar history, I wrote about Beauty and the Beast and Howard Ashman, the tremendously talented individual who was responsible for spurring the Disney renaissance. Beauty and the Beast is the only animated film to ever be nominated for Best Motion Picture (it lost to Silence of the Lambs). Read the article and rewatch the film to see if you can see the social commentary embedded into it. I watched it recently and it was a reminder that the best stories having lasting power even thirty years later.

Grab some popcorn, get comfortable, and enjoy! 🍿 🎬