"How Oscar Found Ms. Right"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/movies/14dargis.html?ref=arts

After my overall disappointment with the 2010 Oscars, Manohla Dargis's article reminded me of one of the better moments of the night, Kathryn Bigelow's acceptance of the best director award. As the first woman to receive this award, Bigelow made Oscar history, and Dargis's contemplation of this event was very thought-provoking. Explaining the male prominence and dominance in the film industry, Dargis eloquently captures Bigelow's achievement when she says, "Kathyrn Bigelow's two-fisted win at the Academy Awards for best director and best film for "The Hurt Locker" didn't just punch through the American movie industry’s seemingly shatterproof glass ceiling; it has also helped dismantle stereotypes about what types of films women can and should direct." And what follows truly helps to prove her point. Her arguments and evidence brought several things to my attention, like the fact that, for the most part, Hollywood movies are made for males and males star in such movies and apart from chick flicks (named so because these are the few movies actually made for women that star women), women are often only objects to be saved by men. Dargis's article really captures Bigelow's efforts to change these "standards" and to change the ideas or expectations about what films women are "supposed" to direct. And I admire that Bigelow does this not just through talk but through action. She is speaking against these standards and expectations by breaking them. She embraces and directs films that are not typically thought of as films that would be directed by women: "She generally makes kinetic and thrilling movies about men and codes of masculinity set in worlds of violence." And in doing so, she makes a powerful statement: "Her insistence on keeping the focus on her movies is a quiet yet profound form of rebellion. She might be a female director, but by refusing to accept that gendered designation — or even engage with it — she is asserting her right to be simply a director."