This is the first time an Asian woman has won an Oscar.
For the past 2024 hours, heated debates over the past Oscars have not subsided in Los Angeles. Some people are spitting at the results, some are pouring free champagne into Chinatown, and some are already fully involved in the pre-Oscar race XNUMX. The Oscars are not a Golden Eagle get-together, where Nikita Sergeevich and his bromances make decisions. It's an annual, multimillion-dollar massacre that can be compared to the presidential race.
Most often, films that have huge budgets for a team of professional strategists get nominated. Typically a team of 10 to 20 people, they are faced with the task of capturing the attention of 10 thousand Oscar film academics taking part in the voting. Sometimes before filming begins, sometimes a year before the Oscars, a promotion campaign is formed. Film studios shell out an average of $5 million for a Best Actor nomination; Best Picture can cost anywhere from $5 million to $25 million. Sometimes these figures are several times higher than the production budget of the film. For example, in 2019, Netflix allocated more than $40 million to promote the film Roma; in 2020, it allocated $70 million for The Irishman and A Marriage Story. Actors and directors at the time of signing contracts are always interested in whether there will be money for pre-Oscar promotion. For them, the nomination is a financial bonus; their value on the market will increase several times. The industry believes that this whole process is ruining cinema and turning everyone from creators into award collectors.
It's all Harvey Weinstein's fault, of course. He is the first to bloodthirstyly cling to the prize. Since the late 80s, Harvey used aggressive tactics to ensure that his films won Oscars: he lobbied the jury, forced them to watch his work, nightmare the actors, came up with PR campaigns, and destroyed competitors in the press. The Film Academy had to issue a number of rules due to the producer's insistence. For example, personal meetings are completely excluded - all works are uploaded online. Participants can only promote their film to the judges through official paid advertising within the film academy. Of course, the Oscars are also influenced by the political agenda. Last year, a series of “stop hating Asians” protests took place in America - and now Hollywood responded for the entire country - the Oscar was won for the first time by an Asian woman, Michelle Yeoh, and the film “Everything Everywhere at Once.” In my opinion, it does not look like a great picture. War in Ukraine - prizes for documentary films “Navalny” and “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Statistics and sentiments correctly presented in the media also matter. Much has been published about Jamie Lee Curtis, who was never nominated, and about the tragic life story of the forgotten Brendan Fraser. Both Jamie and Brendan received their statuettes. And this is the best thing that happened at this award.
And the saddest thing happened with the “Best Actress” nomination. She was nominated for Andrea Riseborough for her role in For Leslie. Critics noted that she brilliantly played an alcoholic mother from Texas who suddenly hit the jackpot in the lottery. Riseborough began to be publicly praised by Demi Moore, Charlize Theron, and Susan Sarandon. Kate Winslet wrote that it was the greatest acting she had ever seen. Even Cate Blanchett, also up for Best Actress in Tar, also admired Andrea. Strategists hired to promote other films immediately launched commissioned investigations into the media that Riseborough was using prohibited techniques and buying the opinions of influencers - she was praised by her colleagues who are current members of the film academy. But there was no reason for this. Miracles happen - celebrities sincerely and selflessly noted the talent of the actress, who has more than 90 films and not a single award. For Leslie's entire budget was less than a million dollars.
This is such a ruthless marketing machine - the world's most prestigious film award. It’s so good that in Russia there is “Kinotavr”, where the fate of the main female role can be decided by the crunch of khachapuri in “Dionysus”!
Author: Yunia Pugacheva
