The Oscars

It’s Oscars weekend yay. You might judge me but Oscars are my favorite award show even though I know they are not legitimate and all this stuff happens behind the scene. I am rooting for Hugo, A Separation, Moneyball and I want Harry Potter to finally win something. As you all know I like to start my blog posts with a link to a video so here is the link for todays blog post http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GxSDZc8etg

What you just watch is the official trailer for the movie Hurt Locker that won an Oscar for best picture in 2009. I will explain why this movie plays a huge part in my blog post in a minute.

So what movie do you want to win this years Oscars?  Hugo, a story of a little boy? Midnight in Paris, story of Owen Wilson? Money ball, story of Brad Pitt? The Tree of Life, story about Brad Pitt’s son? Or War Horse? Oh wait all these movies are centered around a male’s story.

All good movies seem to be about men because we live in a male centered society and we place our attention to men and men’s stories.

I decided to look at all the movies that have won Oscars for the past 83 years and see who’s story the movies were telling. Starting with A King’s Speech that won last year. Yes, surprise, this movie is about a men. The Hurt Locker, Slumdog Millionaire, No Country for Old Men, The Departed, Crash, Lord of the Rings, A Beautiful Mind, Shakespeare in Love, Titanic,  English Patient, Braveheart, Forrest Gump, Schindler’s List, American Beauty, Dance With the Wolves, Last Emperor, Gandhi, The Deer Hunter, Rockey, Godfather part I and part II, Sting, Midnight Cowboy and Men for All Season are all movies that have won Oscars for the past few years and all central around a man and his story. There are a few exceptions like Chicago or Sound of Music that are women’s stories or movies like Million Dollar Baby and Driving Miss Daisy that central around a man and a woman’s story but for most part they are men’s story.

Like my personal favorite movie of all time Gladiator is about a man fighting other men. One more favorite movie of mine Silence of the Lambs is even a men’s story because even though Jody Foster is the main character you never describe the movie as an FBI agent’s story about finding a criminal. No. you describe it as Hannibal Lector’s story about eating other humans. And lets not forget Lawrence of Arabia that is so male dominated that it does not have a single speaking  female role.

In conclusion from the last 50 movies that have won Oscars only 4 are centered around a women’s story and whenever we watch a “chick flick” they are sexist anyway focusing  on women being obsessed with finding Mr. right or shopping and they are completely stereotyped.

And before I forget Hurt Locker was the only movie that a female director won an Oscar for. Infact for the past 83 years only four female directors have been nominated for this award. And I think you would all like to know only 7% directors in Hollywood are women. So the next you go to the movie theaters to watch a movie you might look at it differently and ask yourself “Who’s story is being told?”