Double Standards in awards show reactions

With the Oscars taking place last Sunday, I naturally had to write about it for this week’s column. Surprisingly, my focus isn’t necessarily on who won and who I believe deserved to win but rather on patterns I’ve noticed in acceptance speeches and audience reactions along with my thoughts on those responses.

Almost two weeks ago, Timothée Chalamet won the Screen Actors Guild Award for male actor in a leading role for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, making him the youngest actor to win in this category. People immediately praised his acceptance speech, claiming he did something actors are often afraid to do—be honest about how badly he wanted to win. “I know we’re in a subjective business, but the truth is, I’m really in pursuit of greatness. I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats,” he said.

I applaud him for being vulnerable and expressing his true feelings instead of offering a sugarcoated response about how it wasn’t a big deal. For some reason, pretending not to care—being “too cool” or “unbothered”—is what society sometimes deems acceptable, especially among younger generations. But one thing that has kept me thinking is this: If a woman had said the same thing in her speech, would the reaction have been the same?

In 2022 when Taylor Swift received an honorary doctorate from New York University, she directly addressed the issue of concealing enthusiasm during her commencement speech. “And while we’re talking about things that make us squirm but really shouldn’t, I’d like to say that I’m a big advocate for not hiding your enthusiasm for things. It seems to me that there is a false stigma around eagerness in our culture of ‘unbothered ambivalence.’ This outlook perpetuates the idea that it’s not cool to ‘want it.’ That people who don’t try hard are fundamentally more chic than people who do. And I wouldn’t know because I have been a lot of things but I’ve never been an expert on ‘chic.’ But I’m the one who’s up here so you have to listen to me when I say this: Never be ashamed of trying. Effortlessness is a myth. The people who wanted it the least were the ones I wanted to date and be friends with in high school. The people who want it most are the people I now hire to work for my company,” Swift said.

Despite this, Swift has still been criticized and labeled a try-hard when she has openly expressed her desire to be one of the greats. Early in her career, people mocked her for showing excitement at award shows, claiming there was no way she could be that shocked every time she won. In other words, men can laugh while women are expected to chuckle.

I noticed a similar pattern in the backlash to rising star Mikey Madison winning the Oscar for best actress in a leading role. While I understand that many assumed Demi Moore would finally receive her long-overdue recognition, the award instead went to the 25-year-old starlet. I think the Academy needs major changes, starting with 1) awarding talent that has been long overdue and 2) properly recognizing the horror genre. Horror films are an overlooked craft that deserve either their own category or greater consideration during awards season.

Historically, the Academy hasn’t been keen on awarding younger talent, so the fact that Madison is only the second actor born in the 1990s to win—following Jennifer Lawrence at 22—is significant. If it were up to me, I’d cut the Oscar in half or issue a joint award to both Madison and Moore a la Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn when they tied for their roles in Funny Girl and The Lion in Winter. The race was that close.

Another frustrating pattern is the reaction from some viewers who claimed Madison’s career was “ruined” by winning so early in her career, while others insisted she somehow stole Chalamet’s Oscar—despite them being in completely different categories, which makes no sense. So it’s fine for a young male actor to win but god forbid a young actress does? I’m not sure people realize the harmful stigma they’re enforcing by claiming a woman’s career is over solely because their favorite artist didn’t win, and on top of that, blaming her for another actor’s loss in a category that had nothing to do with her. I believe all of this stems from impulsive temper tantrums by strangers on the internet, and I hope they take the time to reflect on how harmful their words can be.

I don’t have all the answers to fix these industry issues, but one thing I do know is that we should encourage ambition, not reinforce gender bias.