Diva/Mensch pair for Jan 31, 2024
- ladiesvoices
- Jan 31, 2024
- 1 min read
The 2009 Oscars had a fantastic diva/mensch face-off in the Best Picture category. The diva was Avatar, a colorful, splashy box office juggernaut. Still the highest grossing movie of all time. To use a phrase my best friend Karen taught me, I hated it with the heat of a thousand suns. I felt like I was losing at least three IQ points for every 15 minutes I watched the movie. I'm not sure I've gotten those points back.
The mensch was The Hurt Locker, which ended up winning. A taut, intense little drama, not particularly ambitious but expertly crafted.
There were a few things that made this face-off particularly satisfying:
There was a major backlash against Avatar, which I (of course) completely supported.
The directors of those two movies used to be married! James Cameron (who directed Avatar) was a smug blowhard and Kathryn Bigelow (who directed The Hurt Locker) was low key and all about the work.
Bigelow became the first woman to win Best Director. High time.
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