Until some guy ruined it, Greta Gerwig's solo directorial debut Lady Bird had a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film has also swept up numerous Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. As you prepare your ballots for our Oscar pools, however, it might be worth noting that the film is not as universally beloved by Oscar voters as you might think.
This year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts have added multiple new voters to determine who will win at the Oscars. Vulture spoke to 14 of them under the condition of their anonymity. More than half of the subjects interviewed were women and more than a third of them were people of colour.
Of the women Vulture interviewed, few thought that Lady Bird deserved all of the prestigious daps that the Academy Awards can bring. "I don't know that Lady Bird deserved a Best Picture nomination," said one woman in the producers branch. "It's a good movie, I just don't know that it gets Best Picture."
"I'm really proud of Greta; this is her first fucking film as a director!" a female director added. "That's incredible, and she should be insanely proud of herself. Is it Oscar-worthy? I don't think so. The same with Dee [Rees]. Is Mudbound Oscar-worthy? No, but it's good. I just want more stories to be told by women because I don't want to have to get behind a woman just to get behind the woman."
Another woman added, "I totally found it entertaining, and I'm a fan of Greta Gerwig, but does that deserve to be on this list? I was very surprised by the traction that it got. I don't want to bag it, but is it that people are so desperate to find women directors?
"That's a film where a few years ago you'd see it at Sundance and go, 'That's great,' and maybe it gets bought for $5 million," she continued, "but the fact that's up against Dunkirk or Phantom Thread?"
Further, the woman added that the narrative that this is Gerwig's first film as director is in fact inaccurate. "She's up for first-time director at the Independent Spirit Awards, but she co-directed a film before and everyone's just decided to ignore that?" she said, referring to the 2008 film Nights and Weekends. "People just want to champion her as a first-time filmmaker. Whatever."
The Oscars take place on March 4. Lady Bird is up for multiple awards.
This year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts have added multiple new voters to determine who will win at the Oscars. Vulture spoke to 14 of them under the condition of their anonymity. More than half of the subjects interviewed were women and more than a third of them were people of colour.
Of the women Vulture interviewed, few thought that Lady Bird deserved all of the prestigious daps that the Academy Awards can bring. "I don't know that Lady Bird deserved a Best Picture nomination," said one woman in the producers branch. "It's a good movie, I just don't know that it gets Best Picture."
"I'm really proud of Greta; this is her first fucking film as a director!" a female director added. "That's incredible, and she should be insanely proud of herself. Is it Oscar-worthy? I don't think so. The same with Dee [Rees]. Is Mudbound Oscar-worthy? No, but it's good. I just want more stories to be told by women because I don't want to have to get behind a woman just to get behind the woman."
Another woman added, "I totally found it entertaining, and I'm a fan of Greta Gerwig, but does that deserve to be on this list? I was very surprised by the traction that it got. I don't want to bag it, but is it that people are so desperate to find women directors?
"That's a film where a few years ago you'd see it at Sundance and go, 'That's great,' and maybe it gets bought for $5 million," she continued, "but the fact that's up against Dunkirk or Phantom Thread?"
Further, the woman added that the narrative that this is Gerwig's first film as director is in fact inaccurate. "She's up for first-time director at the Independent Spirit Awards, but she co-directed a film before and everyone's just decided to ignore that?" she said, referring to the 2008 film Nights and Weekends. "People just want to champion her as a first-time filmmaker. Whatever."
The Oscars take place on March 4. Lady Bird is up for multiple awards.
