Oscars: How Category Fraud, Social Media Scandals and Independent Film Defined an Unpredictable Season
One of the craziest awards seasons in Oscar history concluded on Sunday with the coronation of Sean Baker’s “Anora,” a comedy about an outer-boroughs sex worker that was shot in guerrilla fashion for just $6 million. Despite its art-house origins, this most independent of indie films was celebrated as the year’s best by the Hollywood establishment. That’s a credit to Baker’s talent and to Neon, the studio that guided 2019’s “Parasite” to a similarly unorthodox victory when it became the first non-English-language film to take the best picture prize. By choosing “Anora,” the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, once dismissed as old and out of touch, has demonstrated that it is open to movies that push the envelope, in terms of both language (there are more than 400 uses of the F-word in the film) and sexuality.
It was a fitting end to an Oscar race that took a dizzying number of twists and turns on the way to Baker and company accepting their five Oscars. As the dust settles and we close the book on this Hollywood chapter, what lessons can we take from this year’s Academy Awards?
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Category Fraud Was Alive and Well
For perhaps the first time in history, four “leading” acting nominees won Oscars — despite two of those victories coming for “supporting” roles. This was a direct result of some of the most blatant category fraud in recent memory.
Zoe Salda?a had the most screen time in “Emilia Pérez,” surpassing Karla Sofía Gascón, who played the titular role. Meanwhile Kieran Culkin’s appearance in “A Real Pain” was only four minutes shorter than that of ostensible star Jesse Eisenberg. Both Salda?a and Culkin clearly gave lead performances and easily could have been nominated alongside Mikey Madison (“Anora”) and Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”) for the top acting prizes.
There’s also a strong case that supporting actress nominee Ariana Grande was a co-lead in “Wicked” with Cynthia Erivo. Even Margaret Qualley, who was snubbed for “The Substance,” had only one minute and 41 seconds less screen time than lead actress nominee Demi Moore.
Films like “Thelma & Louise” and “Terms of Endearment” have shown that co-leading characters exist. Studios should stop playing it safe and encourage their actors to compete where they belong.
The Social Media Scrub Will Now be a Standard Practice
The Karla Sofía Gascón controversy will have lasting effects on the awards complex. Multiple studio and PR sources say that while social media scrubbing was once an afterthought, it will now be seen as an essential component of every campaign.
Netflix poured millions into promoting “Emilia Pérez,” and briefly seemed poised to secure its first best picture win. Whether or not it would have gotten there without the scandal is unclear, but the historic number of nominations and strong momentum suggested it had a good shot. That is, until Gascón’s resurfaced social media posts derailed its campaign.
The lesson? If you’re hoping to be an awards contender — whether it’s for the Oscars, the Emmys or the Tonys — it’s best to start scrubbing now, before journalists and online detectives unearth something you’d prefer remain hidden.
Independent cinema got a much-needed lifeline.
Sean Baker’s “Anora” prevailed in five of the six categories where it was in contention. COVID, Hollywood strikes and the L.A. wildfires have devastated the entertainment industry and made it harder than ever to get movies made. Yet, some artists are still finding a way. Baker, an independent filmmaker since the early 2000s, isn’t chasing a Marvel project next. He’s the proof that gritty, dreamer-driven filmmaking continues to have a place in Hollywood. His win is a glimmer of hope for those who don’t live in mansions but just want to make movies.
Delayed Festival Releases Are a Risky Gamble
“Sing Sing” and Azazel Jacobs’ family drama “His Three Daughters” premiered at TIFF 2023 but weren’t released until nearly a year later. Both struggled to maintain awards momentum.
Few films survive a long delay and still secure major nominations. A rare success is “Sound of Metal” (2020), which premiered at TIFF 2019 but still earned six Oscar nods and two wins. However, that was during the pandemic — an utterly unconventional season.
A yearlong awards campaign is unsustainable for most films unless you have a clear strategy for the long road ahead.
Diversity isn’t just about the actors.
At the Oscars, a Dominican actress, a Brazilian auteur, Palestinian and Iranian filmmakers and a Black costume designer all won awards. The ceremony also saw the third Asian woman producer win best picture alongside her husband.
The Oscars aren’t perfect. The show hasn’t always done enough to elevate underrepresented actors and filmmakers. And there are reasons to worry that studios’ abandonment of DEI could impact future awards races.
However, progress is happening. We had our first back-to-back Afro-Latino best actor nominee (Colman Domingo), Fernanda Torres followed in her mother’s footsteps as the second Brazilian actress to be nominated and Zoe Salda?a became the first Latina (who didn’t play Anita in “West Side Story”) to win an acting Oscar.
Are we at #OscarsSoPerfect? No. But we’re far from #OscarsSoWhite.
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