Every year, movie lovers around the world are preoccupied with the Oscar nominations, and they usually compete in anticipating most of them, by following the results of previous major awards such as the Golden Globe, the British Academy Film Awards, and others, which indirectly affect the Oscar nominations.
But the Best Actress nominations this year came as a surprise, and raised many questions, as Andrea Riseborough's nomination for her role in "To Leslie" sounded like a bomb that disturbed many followers of the cinematic scene, and raised many questions that do not seem to calm down.
The reason for this controversy is not only due to the fact that the film is a low-budget film, nor to the limited success it achieved during its release, as the film’s earnings at the box office did not exceed more than $ 27 thousand only, in addition to being ignored by many major awards.
But what really sparked controversy was the sudden rise in his shares after a wide wave of tweets and publications launched by many first-row stars immediately before voting for the Oscar nominations began, in what appeared to be a systematic campaign to support the film, which pushed him out of the shadows into the center of the spotlight.
This raised many questions about the legitimacy of this type of support, and the mechanisms that can be invoked in the age of social media, in which advertising standards have changed dramatically.
All those stars who supported Riseborough simply did nothing more than express their own opinions on their profiles, so to what extent can what happened be accused of mediocrity or immorality?
But you don't think Andrea Riseborough's last minute entry wasn't manufactured?
Hmm https://t.co/BTCxgm1rgp pic.twitter.com/Y0HlM9u4Qu
— Meech (@MediumSizeMeech) February 27, 2023
Money for personal relationships
It is no secret that the film industry and awards in Hollywood are supported by huge advertising and production mechanisms. Every year, major production companies allocate millions of dollars for direct and indirect advertising for their films to support them in award races. This includes special shows, press and television interviews, conferences, business dinners, banners, and more.
But what about lower budget films?
Those that lack this financial and production support?
What happens, unfortunately, is that these works of art, no matter how good they are, are forgotten in the shadows, and no one pays attention to them, unless they get some chance by chance, which is really rare in Hollywood.
But the makers of the movie "Leslie" decided to turn the rules around the financial obstacle. It is true that they do not have the financial resources to support the film in the award race, but they have another priceless wealth in Hollywood, which is personal relationships.
According to Variety magazine, Mary McCormack, wife of film director Michael Morris, wrote to a group of her friends and asked them amicably to support the film and post about it on social media platforms daily until January 17, which is the last day of voting on the nominations.
This email was very detailed, even suggesting hashtags and pictures to share.
Don't miss 'To Leslie', a small film with a giant heart, directed by Michael Morris with an unforgettable performance by @andreariseborough.
What a gem!
Bravo @filmbymichaelmorris!
and @AndreaRiseborough #ToLeslie 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/99P3dvsliI
- Mia Farrow 🌻 (@MiaFarrow) January 8, 2023
#tolesliemovie is a small film with a giant heart.
@andreariseborough gives the performance of the year, and @allisonbjanney, @marcmaron, @realowenteague, @mr.dreroyo and Stephen Root are all incredible.
Directed by @filmbymichaelmorris!
pic.twitter.com/tkNMvMafzn
— Joe Mantegna (@JoeMantegna) January 9, 2023
Suspicions were also raised about the duo Michael Morris and Mary McCormack hosting a group of committee members at a private reception at their home on January 11, which was considered by the objectors to be a flagrant violation of the academy's rules against lobbyists, as those rules stipulate that it is forbidden to contact members of the academy directly. To promote the film, but these rules apply to film companies and people directly related to the film, and this is the loophole that McCormack passed through.
(1)
The matter went in favor of the film, and indeed, these efforts succeeded in mobilizing support for the film and for Raiseborough, whose colleagues saw that she deserved to be honored, after a long and distinguished career during which she was not highlighted in an amount equivalent to the size of her talent.
Indeed, a deluge of tweets and posts emerged from A-list stars, which were clearly not just spontaneous posts, many of them using pretty much the same wording in their support of the movie (a small movie with a giant heart).
(2)
And this support wasn't just limited to social media. In her Critics' Choice Award acceptance speech, Cate Blanchett even mentioned Andrea Riseborough's name, prompting a storm of applause from the rest of the stars.
On the other hand, the star Gwyneth Paltrow hosted a screening of the movie "To Leslie" and wrote on her personal account on the Instagram platform that Riseborough "deserves to win every award that exists, and all awards that have not yet been invented." The campaign expanded to include the names of stars such as Susan Sandron, Helen Hunt, Mira Sorvino, Rosanna Arquette, Jennifer Aniston, Demi Moore, Courteney Cox, Jane Fonda, Kate Winslet, Amy Adams, and many more, who gave their colleague full support and turned their profiles into sponsored platforms with her name and pictures on them all the time.
(3) These efforts finally paid off, as Andrea Riseborough was nominated for Best Actress on January 24.
As a result of all the controversy, and the tirades against the nomination, a few days later the Academy announced a review of the year's nominees, without explicit reference to the film or Riseborough's name.
However, the result soon came to announce that her name would be kept on the list of nominations, as the Academy, after reviewing it, found that this activity did not rise to the level at which the film's nomination should be cancelled.
But Academy CEO Bill Kramer indicated in his statement that there is a need to make changes in the guidelines in the current era in light of the realities of social media and digital communication, and promised to do so after the current awards cycle.
(4)
Accusations of racism
Perhaps this nomination would have passed with all the circumstances that surrounded it, had it not caused, in one way or another, the exclusion of two of the most important people who were at the top of expectations, namely the two stars, Danielle Deadwyler, the star of the movie "Till", and Viola Davis. Davis) star of "The Woman King," which was seen as curtailing opportunities for black women in the film industry.
This crisis is not new. Rather, it is being talked about year after year. It was the first and only time that a black actress won the Best Actress category in 2001 when Halle Berry won the award, something that has not been repeated since then, that is, more than twenty years ago. .
This crisis was raised more than once, the most violent of which was in 2016, when the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite emerged as an objection to the failure to nominate any non-white actors in various performance categories.
(5) Riseborough herself previously announced in more than one interview about her advocacy for the issue of diversity in the Academy Awards, and asked the members to think about the amount of responsibility they bear and their impact on the world. Therefore, this nomination was faced with a number of violent statements, most notably what was said by the director of the movie “Tell Shinoni Chuko.” (Chinonye Chukwu) who wrote on her Instagram account: “We live and work in an industry violently committed to supporting white people and unabashedly perpetuating racial discrimination against black women.”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Chinonye Chukwu (@chinonyechukwu)
As for De Doyler, the star of the movie “Tell”, she said in her interview on “BBC Radio” that the history of cinema dates back more than a hundred years, and the system is still deeply affected by systemic racism in the country that affects all parts of daily American life from the educational system. to the film industry.
Besides, many voices have been raised in favor of this view, Frederick W.
Gooding Jr., author of the book "The Brown Oscar", points out that the personal relationships of the "Leslie" filmmakers with the Academy voters played a major role in Raiseborough's candidacy, especially when comparing the meager success of her film to the resounding success of "Till" and "Woman King", according to his opinion.
Gooding Jr. pointed to the mediating role of success in the Hollywood environment, arguing that success in the industry depends on what he called social capital and interpersonal relationships, while African-American and multiracial actors do not enjoy the informal social network that whites dominate.
On the other hand, Stephen Tapert, a teacher at the New York Film Academy, was more optimistic, and he considered Michelle Yeoh's nomination as the first Asian actress to be nominated in the Best Actress category as a defining moment in the history of the Oscars, which made him optimistic about some progress in award choices.
But he still wonders about the lack of diversity in this particular category, as only 20 women of color have been nominated out of about 475 nominations in the Best Actress category since the Academy Awards began in 1929. (6)
On the other hand, many stars and critics celebrated what they called the support of movie stars for each other, and considered it as a victory for lesser-known and low-budget films over huge capital and major institutions.
In exchange for the millions of dollars spent on advertising other films, Andrea only supported a number of her colleagues who supported her believing in her talent only.
Well deserved support after all
A still from the movie "To Leslie" (networking sites)
And whether you are with or against what happened, if you are in the row that he sees as corruption and mediation, or in the other row that he sees as a victory for art, in no way can you ignore the distinguished performance that Andrea gave in this movie, as she was able to present the role of “Leslie” the mother Alcoholism and its transformations brilliantly, both in terms of performance and psychological transformations, as well as in terms of physical and formal appearance.
The nomination came to culminate a long career of distinguished performance that includes roles in such works as "Birdman", "Black Mirror", "Mandy" and "Amsterdam".
"To Leslie" is the first cinematic work of director Michael Morris, after he directed episodes of popular and critically successful series such as "Better Call Saul", "13 Reasons Why", "Kingdom" and "Bloodline".
The events of the film are inspired by the life of the mother of screenwriter Ryan Bianco, and it revolves around a single mother and an alcoholic who wins the jackpot in the lottery, and instead of using it to improve the life of her only son, she spends it entirely on alcohol, and ends up homeless and left her son behind without care, but fate He extends his hand to her with a new opportunity.
The movie got a good watch after all the limelight, which every good work of art deserves, regardless of its publicity budget.
However, what happened, in any case, raises many questions on the discussion table about the effectiveness of the rules set by the Academy to ensure the integrity of the awards, in light of the change in the current scene, and the penetration of social media platforms into our lives. To what extent can what happened be considered pressure on voters?
And how do you differentiate between what could be considered intentional propaganda, or simply a personal expression of opinion?
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Sources:
1- Unpacking Andrea Riseborough's Controversial Oscar Nomination
2-Andrea Riseborough's Oscar nomination upheld after academy review
3- What Andrea Riseborough's controversial nomination reveals about the Oscars
4- The Andrea Riseborough Oscar Controversy Explained: Grassroots Campaign By Paltrow, Winslet, Blanchett And Others Helped Score Nomination For 'To Leslie' Actress
5- The Andrea Riseborough Oscar Controversy Explained: Grassroots Campaign By Paltrow, Winslet, Blanchett And Others Helped Score Nomination For 'To Leslie' Actress
6-Everything We Know About the Controversy Over Andrea Riseborough's Oscar Nomination