Monday, March 08, 2010

Girls make movies too

Two things I'd rather not hear EVER AGAIN:

-Anybody talking about how Kathryn Bigelow was married to James Cameron and thus she's going to be all "Haha James Cameron!" and "Yeah, I'm better than you, nananana."

First, as I said on Facebook, more women have been married to James Cameron than have been nominated for Best Director. So her being nominated and winning? A hell of a lot more important an achievement.

Second, they were married for like, thirty seconds, and from all accounts they remain good friends, they work together well, and have been nothing but supportive of each other. So she's likely not at all saying "In your face" but instead saying, "I'm so happy, isn't it exciting?"

Third, please stop taking away from her achievement by making it still in some way about James Effin' Cameron, okay? It's devaluing her achievement and I'm a bit tired of it. That these comments are largely coming from women isn't helping my brain.

-How smoking hot Kathryn Bigelow is. "OMG, she's a HOT CHICK who can direct! And action movies no less! WOW! She's so hot, and then she's also talented!"

Again with the devaluing.

From everything I've heard she did an amazing job directing an amazing film. Let's concentrate on that, could we please?

And no, I haven't read any blogs or posts at all tonight so if you posted one of these comments this is NOT directed at you, it's directed at a general sentiment I've seen over the last few months in nearly every media article and comment about Bigelow. It's not like I'm sitting here thinking "OMG, anybody who says this is an evil person and I hate them." I'm just tired of every other comment I see, including a twitter from Roger Ebert, being about one of these two topics instead of honoring how fabulous, talented, and wonderful she might be, and how historic and fabulous this moment is.

I mean, I know not a lot of people care about The Oscars, and I know not a lot of people think they mean anything. But the thing is, this moment? This moment is huge for ME. Me personally. Me, as a woman who wants to direct films, who wants to make action pictures or dramas, not just frippery and bland rom coms like people think women are supposed to make. This is a moment where everything I want to be was validated in a huge, huge way.

I'm not saying I'll ever win an Oscar or even be as good as Kathryn Bigelow, or that I'll ever even manage to direct a feature. But this is like a big neon light in the sky saying that I _can_. That I should just keep trying, just keep moving forward, because people are finally opening up and listening, they're believing in the same dream I'm dreaming. They are starting to think that women can do this job too.

That's a really, really big deal.

So I don't want it colored and shaded by a bunch of crap about looks and who slept with who because that doesn't matter.

In twenty years, when there are more women directors, when more women are able to tell their stories and make their movies, when they really get out there and say what they want to say and people are not just letting them say it but encouraging them and celebrating them, this moment will be the start of it.

It won't matter who was married to who, it won't matter if she was pretty or not. It will matter that both genders are getting to tell stories.