The pink elephant at the Oscars

Oscar night is Hollywood’s biggest moment of the year, and immediately there will be a cacophony of “awards don’t matter” and “it’s just a popularity contest.” The latter is partially true; the former is not true at all. Popular culture is a reflection of our culture and our society, and what we choose to honor (and how we honor it) is a reflection of what we value. It matters.

Let’s address the pink elephant in the room first: Greta Gerwig deserved to be nominated for best director. To my mind, she also deserved to win, but not even to be nominated is utterly ridiculous. I’ve ranted about this before, and it was all done a long time ago, but she’s been doing brilliant work as a writer and director for so long that now a movie is an auto-pick for me just because she’s attached.

“They’re doing another live-action Disney.”

“Eh. They’ve only been okay.”

“It’s Snow White.”

“Ugh. My least favorite Disney, art notwithstanding.”

“Starring Rachel Zegler.”

“West Side Story? Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? Maybe.”

“And Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen.”

“…interesting.”

“Written by Greta Gerwig.”

“SOLD.”