Kathryn Bigelow, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand, who was almost nominated for a Best Director Oscar a couple of times in the past, was chosen to present the 2010 Best Director Oscar at Sunday's ceremony. "From among the five gifted nominees tonight, the winner could be, for the first time, a woman," Streisand told the audience at the Kodak Theatre. And just in time, too: Monday, March 8, was International Women's Day. After looking at the name inside The Envelope, Streisand editorialized, "Well, the time has come."
For the first black filmmaker to win the Best Director Oscar? For the first openly gay filmmaker to win the Best Director Oscar? (Lee Daniels in both instances.) Or perhaps even for the first director of a 3D motion picture (Avatar's James Cameron) to take home the Best Director Oscar?
Looking at The Hurt Locker's Kathryn Bigelow — and hearing the cheers emanating from the crowd — it was clear that pretty much everyone knew Streisand meant that the time had come for a female director. And it's too bad that she opted to dramatize Kathryn Bigelow's gender, especially when Bigelow herself has stated time and again that she wants to be seen as a filmmaker — not a woman filmmaker.
I was rooting for Bigelow, but it would have been fascinating to see Streisand's face — and those of Oscar show producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman — had Lee Daniels, James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino, or Jason Reitman been named the winner. It isn't cool to be so blatant about who you want to win when there are five nominees, any of which could have taken the award.
Now, to her credit, Streisand refrained from making comments about either Bigelow's legs or the idea of questioning her own sexual orientation — unlike Lee Daniels at the DGA Awards a few weeks ago, where remarks about Bigelow's gender ran the gamut from condescending to downright offensive.
I was glad that Bigelow opted not to make a big deal — or even a small one — of the fact that she's the first woman to ever win the Best Director Oscar. Others have done it for her. That's enough. Having Bigelow go on about her feat won't make more women get nominated for or win Best Director Oscars. Critically acclaimed productions directed by women, especially those that earn good profits for their studios and/or distributors, and/or that get a good push from critics' groups during awards season, will do the trick.
By the way, Streisand'sBest Director Oscar near-nods were for Yentl (1983) and for Best Picture nominee The Prince of Tides (1991). Neither is among my all-time favorite films, but I gotta admit that I did — much to my surprise — thoroughly enjoy Director Streisand's much-panned The Mirror Has Two Faces, in which Actress Streisand stars opposite this year's Best Actor winner Jeff Bridges and last fall's Honorary Oscar recipient Lauren Bacall.
See also Honorary Oscars Bypass Women
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