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The 2020 Oscar Nominations are Very Straight & Very Male

The 2020 Oscar Nominations are Very Straight & Very Male

The 2020 Oscar Nominations are Very Straight & Very Male

We all saw this coming.

rachelkiley

The list of Oscar nominations is finally here! And it’s…jarringly heterosexual and male-centric.

Joker swept through all the categories with a whopping 11 nominations, more than any other film this year. The film has previously been criticized by some for romanticizing incel culture, while others have praised it as a new and thoughtful take on the Batman villain’s origin story.

Bombshell, the Charlize Theron-led film about women at Fox News pushing back against Roger Ailes for alleged sexual harassment, received nods for Lead Actress (Theron), Supporting Actress (Margot Robbie), and Makeup and Hair. Robbie’s character has a quiet fling with Kate McKinnon’s character throughout the film.

Antonio Banderas was also nominated for a queer role — the actor has the opportunity to take home an Oscar for Lead Actor in Pain and Glory.

Meanwhile, Judy, the biopic of the last few months of gay icon Judy Garland’s life, was nominated in the category of Lead Actor (Renee Zellweger).

Queer community faves Laura Dern and Kathy Bates were nominated for their supporting roles in Marriage Story and Richard Jewell, respectively.

Elton John, an actual queer human, received a nomination for his song ā€œ(I’m Gonna) Love Me Againā€ for his biopic, Rocketman.

Perhaps most notably this year, once again, no women were nominated for directing. It was hoped that out of the pool of Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers), Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Olivia Wilde (Booksmart), and Alma Har’el (Honey Boy), at least one woman would be nominated, but here we are again, with a bunch of dudes. Only five women have ever been nominated in the directing category, and only Kathryn Bigelow (Hurt Locker) has ever won.

While Gerwig was nominated for Adapted Screenplay forĀ Little Women, no other women were nominated in that category, and were only nominated as co-writers with men for the Original Screenplay category. There are no women up for Best Cinematography or Animated Feature.

It's also worth noting that after last year's Kevin Hart debacle, there will again be no host for the Oscars.

2019 was a particularly queer year for the Oscars, at least in terms of on-screen representation — we’re still lacking in actually nominating enough real life LGBTQ people who make movies. To see 2020 walk it back to a more heteronormative place is undoubtedly disappointing. But there weren’t many contenders to root for this year, which means that while we know TV is constantly becoming more and more LGBTQ inclusive, films still have a long way to go.

You can read the full list of nominations below.

Best Picture:

ā€œFord v Ferrariā€
ā€œThe Irishmanā€
ā€œJojo Rabbitā€
ā€œJokerā€
ā€œLittle Womenā€
ā€œMarriage Storyā€
ā€œ1917ā€
ā€œOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodā€
ā€œParasiteā€

Lead Actor:

Antonio Banderas ā€œPain and Gloryā€
Leonardo DiCaprio ā€œOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodā€
Adam Driver ā€œMarriage Storyā€
Joaquin Phoenix ā€œJokerā€
Jonathan Pryce ā€œThe Two Popesā€

Lead Actress:

Cynthia Erivo ā€œHarrietā€
Scarlett Johansson ā€œMarriage Storyā€
Saoirse Ronan ā€œLittle Womenā€
Charlize Theron ā€œBombshellā€
Renee Zellweger ā€œJudyā€

Supporting Actor:

Tom Hanks, ā€œA Beautiful Day in the Neighborhoodā€
Anthony Hopkins, ā€œThe Two Popesā€
Al Pacino, ā€œThe Irishmanā€
Joe Pesci, ā€œThe Irishmanā€
Brad Pitt, ā€œOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodā€

Supporting Actress:

Kathy Bates, ā€œRichard Jewellā€
Laura Dern, ā€œMarriage Storyā€
Scarlett Johansson, ā€œJojo Rabbitā€
Florence Pugh, ā€œLittle Womenā€
Margot Robbie, ā€œBombshellā€

Director:

Martin Scorsese, ā€œThe Irishmanā€
Todd Phillips, ā€œJokerā€
Sam Mendes, ā€œ1917ā€
Quentin Tarantino, ā€œOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodā€
Bong Joon Ho, ā€œParasiteā€

Animated Feature:

ā€œHow to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden Worldā€ Dean DeBlois
ā€œI Lost My Bodyā€ Jeremy Clapin
ā€œKlausā€ Sergio Pablos
ā€œMissing Linkā€ Chris Butler
ā€œToy Story 4ā€Ā  Josh Cooley

Animated Short:

ā€œDcera,ā€ Daria Kashcheeva
ā€œHair Love,ā€ Matthew A. Cherry
ā€œKitbull,ā€ Rosana Sullivan
ā€œMemorable,ā€ Bruno Collet
ā€œSister,ā€ Siqi Song

Adapted Screenplay:

ā€œThe Irishman,ā€ Steven Zaillian
ā€œJojo Rabbit,ā€ Taika Waititi
ā€œJoker,ā€ Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
ā€œLittle Women,ā€ Greta Gerwig
ā€œThe Two Popes,ā€ Anthony McCarten

Original Screenplay:

ā€œKnives Out,ā€ Rian Johnson
ā€œMarriage Story,ā€ Noah Baumbach
ā€œ1917,ā€ Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns
ā€œOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood,ā€ Quentin Tarantino
ā€œParasite,ā€ Bong Joon-ho, Jin Won Han

Cinematography:

ā€œThe Irishman,ā€ Rodrigo Prieto
ā€œJoker,ā€ Lawrence Sher
ā€œThe Lighthouse,ā€ Jarin Blaschke
ā€œ1917,ā€ Roger Deakins
ā€œOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood,ā€ Robert Richardson

Best Documentary Feature:

ā€œAmerican Factory,ā€ Julia Rieichert, Steven Bognar
ā€œThe Cave,ā€ Feras Fayyad
ā€œThe Edge of Democracy,ā€ Petra Costa
ā€œFor Sama,ā€ Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts
ā€œHoneyland,ā€ Tamara Kotevska, Ljubo Stefanov

Best Documentary Short Subject:

ā€œIn the Absence,ā€ Yi Seung-Jun and Gary Byung-Seok Kam
ā€œLearning to Skateboard in a Warzone,ā€ Carol Dysinger
ā€œLife Overtakes Me,ā€ Kristine Samuelson and John Haptas
ā€œSt. Louis Superman,ā€ Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan
ā€œWalk Run Cha-Cha,ā€ Laura Nix

Best Live Action Short Film:

ā€œBrotherhood,ā€ Meryam Joobeur
ā€œNefta Football Club,ā€ Yves Piat
ā€œThe Neighbors’ Window,ā€ Marshall Curry
ā€œSaria,ā€ Bryan Buckley
ā€œA Sister,ā€ Delphine Girard

Best International Feature Film:

ā€œCorpus Christi,ā€ Jan Komasa
ā€œHoneyland,ā€ Tamara Kotevska, Ljubo Stefanov
ā€œLes Miserables,ā€ Ladj Ly
ā€œPain and Glory,ā€ Pedro Almodovar
ā€œParasite,ā€ Bong Joon Ho

Film Editing:

ā€œFord v Ferrari,ā€ Michael McCusker, Andrew Buckland
ā€œThe Irishman,ā€ Thelma Schoonmaker
ā€œJojo Rabbit,ā€ Tom Eagles
ā€œJoker,ā€ Jeff Groth
ā€œParasite,ā€ Jinmo Yang

Sound Editing:

ā€œFord v Ferrari,ā€ Don Sylvester
ā€œJoker,ā€ Alan Robert Murray
ā€œ1917,ā€ Oliver Tarney, Rachel Tate
ā€œOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood,ā€ Wylie Stateman
ā€œStar Wars: The Rise of SkyWalker,ā€ Matthew Wood, David Acord

Sound Mixing:

ā€œAd Astraā€
ā€œFord v Ferrariā€
ā€œJokerā€
ā€œ1917ā€
ā€œOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodā€

Production Design:

ā€œThe Irishman,ā€ Bob Shaw and Regina Graves
ā€œJojo Rabbit,ā€ Ra Vincent and Nora Sopkova
ā€œ1917,ā€ Dennis Gassner and Lee Sandales
ā€œOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood,ā€ Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh
ā€œParasite,ā€ Lee Ha-Jun and Cho Won Woo, Han Ga Ram, and Cho Hee

Original Score:

ā€œJoker,ā€ Hildur Guưnadóttir
ā€œLittle Women,ā€ Alexandre Desplat
ā€œMarriage Story,ā€ Randy Newman
ā€œ1917,ā€ Thomas Newman
ā€œStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,ā€ John Williams*ā€œThe King,ā€ Nicholas Britell

Original Song:

ā€œI Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,ā€ ā€œToy Story 4ā€
ā€œI’m Gonna Love Me Again,ā€ ā€œRocketmanā€
ā€œI’m Standing With You,ā€ ā€œBreakthroughā€
ā€œInto the Unknown,ā€ ā€œFrozen 2ā€
ā€œStand Up,ā€ ā€œHarrietā€

Makeup and Hair:

ā€œBombshellā€
ā€œJokerā€
ā€œJudyā€
ā€œMaleficent: Mistress of Evilā€
ā€œ1917ā€

Costume Design:

ā€The Irishman,ā€ Sandy Powell, Christopher Peterson
ā€œJojo Rabbit,ā€ Mayes C. Rubeo
ā€œJoker,ā€ Mark Bridges
ā€œLittle Women,ā€ Jacqueline Durran
ā€œOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood,ā€ Arianne Phillips

Visual Effects:

ā€œAvengers Endgameā€
ā€œThe Irishmanā€
ā€œ1917ā€
ā€œThe Lion Kingā€
ā€œStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerā€

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Rachel Kiley

Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.

Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.