It's Time To Rethink What We Consider An Oscar Performance
7 years, 2 months ago

It's Time To Rethink What We Consider An Oscar Performance

Huff Post  

Illustration: Gabriela Landazuri Saltos/HuffPost Photo: Getty Images Late in “Girls Trip,” when the central Flossy Posse is squabbling at a New Orleans hotel, the impulsive merrymaker Dina hurls a slew of expletives at her friends ― about “raggedy fake-asses” and the clap. Universal Pictures, the studio that released “Girls Trip,” didn’t mount a robust campaign for the breakout star, despite the gargantuan attention she received for this performance. Had Haddish received a nomination, she would have had few precedents: Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids,” Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder” and Marisa Tomei in “My Cousin Vinny.” Even Katharine Hepburn, one of the sharpest screwball actors who’s ever lived, was nominated almost exclusively for her heady dramatic turns. Of the last 10 Best Actor champions, almost all of them suffer an ailment: Leonardo DiCaprio’s arctic muteness in “The Revenant,” Eddie Redmayne’s neurological condition in “The Theory of Everything,” Matthew McConaughey’s AIDS frailty in “Dallas Buyers Club,” Daniel Day-Lewis’ hunched gait in “Lincoln,” Colin Firth’s stutter in “The King’s Speech,” Jeff Bridges’ alcoholism in “Crazy Heart.” Oldman sports heavy affectations, a portly belly and a conflicted character arc. That “Get Out” managed four nominations ― including Daniel Kaluuya’s Best Actor nod ― despite being a genre-bending crowd-pleaser with massive profits to its name shows that some of the tired adages about what constitutes Oscar-caliber material have faded.

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