Due to the relatively recent and media-dominating news of Harvey Weinstein’s misogynistic acts and the subsequent birth of the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements in Hollywood, one would expect that these events would dominate the 2018 Oscars. Despite the newfound public awareness of how women are treated in the industry, there is clearly still a long way to go for the sexes to reach equality. This can be exhibited through the fact that Kobe Bryant and Gary Oldman took home academy awards despite sexual assault allegations against them. In addition, Ryan Seacrest, also recently accused of sexual assault, was still found interviewing celebrities on the red carpet.
Yet, there was also some progress exhibited at this year’s Academy Awards. The ceremony featured a montage for the representation of women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community in the film industry. This montage was introduced by Time’s Up leaders Ashley Judd, Annabella Sciorra, and Salma Hayek. All three of these women came forward in the past year as victims of sexual assault and “Hollywood blacklisting” from Harvey Weinstein. These women proved a reminder to all of how the system of workplace misogyny has robbed so many women of their careers.
Another highlight for the feminist movement at this year’s Oscars was Frances McDormand’s Best Actress acceptance speech for her film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. At the start of her speech she asked all of the female nominees in the audience to stand and asked the audience to acknowledge that “we all have stories to tell and projects we need financed”. McDormand went on to introduce the concept of an inclusion rider. This is a stipulation in actors/actresses’ contracts that demands a certain level of diversity in the project’s cast and crew. This public announcement of how individuals in the film industry can actually act in demanding progress will hopefully take charge and work to diversify an industry that has so long been dominated by white men.
All in all, the 2018 Oscars displayed not only how far the entertainment industry has come in acknowledging the problems at hand, but also the long way there is to go for change to produce genuine equality.