OSCAR 2015: BEST ACTRESS
A psychopathic murderous; an intellectual dealing with early symptoms of Alzheimer; a young woman carrying the consequences of her bad decisions; a desperate woman facing financial crisis and struggling to maintain her family safe; and a devoted wife capable of enduring the unimaginable. These are the five Oscar contenders for Best Actress this year. Who deserves the award? This year’s race is certainly a very odd one. 2014 wasn’t that amusing for leading female roles, making the supporting field more attractive, but they ended up ignored, example Tilda Swinton in everything she was in. Lacking a reasonably Oscar-worthy performance, studios put out a marketing strategy, promoting Julianne Moore’s tour-de-force performance in “Still Alice” as the front-runner. The film made a week-run in two theaters in December in order to be eligible, while “Two Days, One Night” for which French star Marion Cotillard is up for, opened on Christmas Eve. The other three nominees, Rosamund Pike “Gone Girl”, Reese Witherspoon “Wild” and Felicity Jones “Theory of Everything”, had their chances kicked off early in Fall when their respective films opened to great buzz and enthusiastic box-office results. Back then, specialists were already talking about Moore, even though no-one had seen the film yet. So, why wasn’t the film pushed to the next season, giving Moore a better and honest opportunity to earn a deserved achievement, specially being probably the most complete contemporary American actor? She certainly deserves the honor, but the whole thing feels like a hysterical marketing scheme, rushing audiences to see the film just weeks before Cinema’s most prestigious Night. In other words, none of the other performances really mattered when they picked their nominees, considering Moore’s film wasn’t even available in theaters. Most importantly, the last two Oscar-winning Actresses had won for neurotic, on a verge and desperate female roles, who spent the entire film dealing with personal crisis and popping up pills as a form of relief for the facts they couldn’t face: Jennifer Lawrence in “Silver Linings Playbook” and last year’s Cate Blanchett in “Blue Jasmine”.
With this pharmaceutical aspect in mind, suggesting the use of chemical drugs in order to process life’s issues, this should be the time for a change. While Moore’s character engages on a necessary treatment, Witherspoon’s character had decided to journey the desert to analyze her own twisted life-style, including promiscuity and drug abuse. In the other hand, Rosamund gives an unforgettable and tremendously scary performance as a maniac, whose actions of faking her own murder, will be remembered as one of Cinema’s most cruel guilty pleasures. And why isn’t she running on the supporting category? Despite these fallen characters, the two other nominees demonstrate courage, determination and strength in a better level: Marion, as a waged worker, struggling and humiliating herself to keep her job, and Felicity Jones as the supportive, resistant and enduring wife of a disabled scientist. Another aspect worth noticing is the suicide attempts so constant in the industry now-a-days. Somehow, some cinematic experiences tend to drag one spouse into a drastic situation where they suggest the other should bring their suffering to an end. It happens with Moore, and while Pike fakes her own murder, Witherspoon and Cotillard make their attempts on their own. Of course, they’re all great, strong, powerful and important performances, portraits of real-life personalities and social issues, but with all the despair, why not promote some hope and family values depicted by Jones’ character as the devoted wife? Her superb performance is a fierce example of hope, faith and restitution, highlighting the meaning of existence and avoiding completely any ideas of surrendering or giving up on love. I won’t be very pleased if Moore wins, but I’ll respect that. My favorite is Cotillard but I’m hoping the Academy decides to change the trend, honoring the experiences of a good wife this time. Otherwise, ladies will be aware of the trick: all they need is to go wild and hopeless. Good Luck!
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