Boycotts and Goodbyes
On the morning the Oscar nominations are announced, the good Professor Kaufmann and I typically steal a few minutes to compare notes, scowl at omissions and cast our initial predictions.
But this year, before either of us could hear the nominations, there was another piece of news that caught us completely off guard. British actor of stage and screen, Alan Rickman, had died at the age of 69 after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. The news just a few days earlier that David Bowie (also British, age 69 and massively talented) had died of liver cancer was bad enough, but this loss touched both of us with surprising impact. Oscar who?
Rickman, best known to American audiences for playing Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series, was a monumental force in the British acting community. His distinctive baritone voice and cadence was unlike any other. He could nimbly play villainous parts with wicked and gleeful abandon, gentle parts with tenderness and compassion, and comedic roles with quick wit and delight. Good guy or bad guy he always brought physicality to his roles that made them magnetic. We pay tribute to Alan Rickman this month in our DVD picks.
I suspect The Asheville Film Society (AFS) and the Hendersonville Film Society (HFS) will pay tribute to Rickman in March, but this month AFS will pay tribute to David Bowie with a screening of The Man Who Fell To Earth on February 2, 2016.
By the time the good Professor and I finally reviewed the nominations, the backlash about the colorless nominations and talk of boycotting the Oscars was headline news. Frankly, we found the lack of diversity among last year’s nominations more glaring than this year (David Oyelowo, Ava DuVernay, anyone?).
The actors and filmmakers of color in contention this year, were in no way shoe-ins for nominations. For us, the most blatant omission was Youth, which should have garnered nominations in several categories. Ironically – it’s a film about two old white guys.
Bottom line: there should be better opportunities for people of color. For that matter there should be equal pay for women and more female directors.
But here’s the wonderful thing about Hollywood and film; there has never been another industry that has done so much to champion human and civil rights. Movies can transcend differences of opinion, beliefs and culture, break through barriers, tear down invisible walls and unite us all in the human experience. That’s part of the magic and part of why we all love to go to the movies.
Until next time, enjoy the show.
