Women move up in Hollywood

Kathryn Bigelow made history at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards last Sunday by being the first woman to win the Best Director Award.  I must say, it’s about time!

Given the fact that there are hundreds female directors in the USA alone, not even including those in other countries, it’s a bit shocking that only four have ever been nominated for Best Director at the Oscars. While Bigelow’s win is a milestone, it’s not necessarily reflective of the industry progressing much.  According to a recent San Francisco Chronicle article, the percentage of women directing top-grossing films actually decreased in 2009, falling to a mere seven percent, the same as in 1987.  Clearly, there’s still work to be done. 

Bigelow, however, has at least put a crack in the Best Director glass ceiling.  Interestingly, she won the award for her film The Hurt Locker, a film based on the war and soldiers in Iraq. This film has a primarily male cast and a male majority audience.

To me, it is an even bigger deal that she won this award on this particular film, because she has to try to communicate this kind of film, a film outside the female stereotype, toward a male majority about an important topic. Let’s face it, she has to get it right. 

Otherwise she will hear about her “shortcomings” in making a war film for years. Bigelow has said of her film that The Hurt Locker, has the potential to put the audience in the soldiers shoes, to put them inside the Hummvee, have them be the fourth man on the team so they can live that moment with those soldiers.”

This description made me want to watch the film and from just watching the opening scene of it, I feel she did exactly what she set out to do in directing this film and certainly deserved this award and the honor that comes with it.

The powerful women of Hollywood agree.  Barbra Streisand, who presented the award to Bigelow, announced her win by saying, “The time has come.” I think that many people have waited for a woman to win and now that Bigelow has opened this avenue, I don’t think there will be as many women holding back or being held back.

I think that it is interesting that women directors as a whole, not just Bigelow, are also trying to branch out and away from just your stereotypical love story/romantic comedy, or even feel good drama movies.

Bigelow has certainly opened up this stream a little bit more, and made it seem like a more reachable goal for the up-and-coming female directors.

Finally, as an interesting side note, many know that Kathryn Bigelow and former husbandJames Cameron were each other’s toughest competition at the Oscar’s this year in nearly every category.
Although they were each other’s biggest opponents, Cameron, in a post-Oscars interview with The Hot Button, said, “I’m proud of Kathryn.  I’m very proud of Kathryn; I encouraged her to make this film.”

The two [Bigelow and Cameron] both say there are no hard feelings and that they are still friends.

So, she not only won but won with grace and no gloat, although she could have gloated given her film won six Oscars, twice as many as Cameron’s Avatar.