Kathryn Bigelow: A closer look

For those of you who don't know Kathryn Bigelow is an American producer and director, creator of The Hurt Locker (Oscar best picture favorite) and winner of the directing BAFTA (British academy awards) for the same film. Once married to James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar) she is predicted to beat her ex-husband in both the best director and best picture awards. She is the 4th woman to be nominated for the Best Director award at the Oscars and will be the first to win if she pulls off a victory next Sunday. But why has it taken so long for a woman to win a best director oscar? There are plenty of women in the field and yet little recognition has been given to these women for their skills. And why is Kathryn Bigelow the first woman to be seriously considered for the award? After all, her movie was pretty small and seen by few. After seeing the movie I had a better understanding. The Hurt Locker is the most macho, adrenaline filled, masculine movie I've ever seen. Taking place in post-invasion Iraq, it is a war movie about an elite bomb squad in Baghdad running around defusing precarious bombs. I don't even remember there being a single woman in the movie. Is it possible that a woman has to make such a manly movie to win the oscar? How about Boys Don't Cry? Or even Big with Tom Hanks? Little Miss Sunshine? Monster? WAYNE'S WORLD? Ok, maybe there aren't that many good movies made by women, but they should not have to make such a masculine movie as The Hurt Locker to win an Oscar for their directing.


It's the same as Tom Hanks winning an Oscar for playing a gay lawyer in Philadelphia. It's a great movie, but in order for someone to win an oscar for playing a gay character that person had to be straight and not play the character effeminate at all. The comparison could even be drawn to Obama. Many people were annoyed that it took Barack Obama, someone who many considered to be "too white" to win the presidency as the first "black" president.


I hope Bigelow wins the Oscar next Sunday, not because she is a woman, but because she deserves it for her work. But I still wonder if she would be such a contender had she made a more feminine movie. Would Hollywood love her as much?