Tag Archives: lesbian/bisexual characters

Oscars 2016: 5 of the Biggest Nomination Snubs

In just over a months’ time, the 88th Academy Awards (the 2016 Oscars) will take place. Hosted by comedian Chris Rock, the award show aims to heap praise on those who’ve done a brilliant job in filmmaking both in front of and behind the camera.

Earlier this week, the Oscars 2016 nominations were revealed and while there were some notable highlights (trans drama The Danish Girl landed multiple noms, as did Mad Max: Fury Road) there were also some notable snubs. Below is our list of the biggest snubs; feel free to leave yours in the comments!


1. Carol

cate-blanchett-stars-carol-01

Carol is quite possibly the best lesbian film ever made; most people who’ve seen it and critics, many of whom have featured Carol in their ‘best of the year’ lists, would agree.

So why, despite Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara getting nominations for their incredible performances in the film, was the film looked over elsewhere?

In a brilliant article on Autostraddle, Heather Hogan suggests that Carol was kept out of the Best Picture and Best Director categories because of misandry rather than lesbophobia. 76% of Oscar voters are men and as director Todd Haynes “refused to center on masculine experience” it stands to reason that the voters didn’t want to heap praise on the movie.


2. Tangerine

Tangerine 02

Tangerine is a film that stars two trans women (who are also sex workers) named Sin-Dee and Alexandra, telling the story of what happens when Sin-Dee finds out that her boyfriend (and pimp) has been cheating on her. Not only was it praised for casting two actual trans women to play trans characters (a rarity in films these days) but this indie flick was also shot on an iPhone.

With critics raving about the film, the team behind Tangerine decided to campaign for the Oscars, making it the first ever Oscars campaign for openly transgender actresses. A nomination was always a long shot but we’re still sad to see Tangerine and its cast miss out.


3. Clouds of Sils Maria (Kristen Stewart)

Clouds of Sils Maria 02

Less of a long shot was Clouds of Sils Maria. Released in the United States in April 2015, the drama starred Juliette Binoche as a middle-aged actress cast in a film with Chloe Moretz (who plays an up and coming actress in the film), while Kristen Stewart stars as the personal assistant Binoche’s character has some serious tension with.

With Stewart having scooped up a César (a French Oscar) for her role, in what some have called a ‘career-defining performance’ for the actress, many were surprised to see that Oscar voters overlooked her.


4. Grandma

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Another film that everybody has been raving about is Grandma. Controversial for the fact that it centres on a grandmother and her granddaughter trying to find the funds for an abortion, critics loved the comedy-drama and said that Lily Tomlin was fantastic in it.

As a result, her Oscars 2016 snub was a shock though some have cited age (Tomlin is 76) and Hollywood’s bias against older women as a primary reason for the snub.


5. Any Actor of Colour

It is amazing (and not in a good way) just how staggeringly, blindingly and frankly uncomfortably white this year’s Oscars are. For the second year on the trot, every single acting nomination was given to white actors and actresses. Not even Will Smith (who offered a brilliant performance in Concussion) and Idris Elba (who delivered a dazzling performance in Beasts of No Nation) were nominated.

Michael B. Jordan was completely overlooked whereas his Creed costar Sylvester Stallone got a nomination and Straight Outta Compton was also ignored despite being a critical and box office smash.


The most recent figure (from 2012) suggests that Oscar voters are 94% white so again this isn’t surprising, but the fact that this has happened another year in a row, at a time when the Academy is reportedly trying to improve regarding diversity, makes this even worse.

Even the Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs has voiced her disappointment

Oscars 2016: Cate Blanchett And Rooney Mara Both Nominated For ‘Carol’

Hollywood held its breath today as the academy revealed which of the year’s films it was most impressed by.

The Revenant led the nominations with a total of 12, followed by Mad Max: Fury Roadwith 10, and The Martian with seven.

Cate Blanchett is up for Best Actress for her critically-acclaimed role in lesbian love story Carol – which received a total of six nominations, including one for co-star Rooney Mara, who is up for Best Supporting Actress.

cate-blanchett-stars-carol

However, there was film failed to pick up Best Picture category, and Todd Haynes was absence in the Best Director category.

Eddie Redmayne is also aiming for an Oscar double after being nominated for Best Actor for The Danish Girl – twelve months after winning the same prize for The Theory of Everything.

danish-girl

However, Redmayne faces stiff competition from the likes of Bryan Cranston, Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Fassbender.

Other nominees included Sam Smith and Lady Gaga – who were both nominated for Best Original Song.

Smith – who is nominated for Bond theme, Writing On The Wall – expressed shock after also picking up a Golden Globe for the song last weekend.

Lady Gaga is nominated for her track, Till It Happens To You, which formed part of the soundtrack of film The Hunting Ground.

Unsettlingly, for the second consecutive year, no performers of colour were nominated. Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation), Michael B. Jordan (Creed), Samuel L. Jackson (The Hateful Eight), Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton) and Mya Taylor (Tangerine) were among the many black actors who were shut out.

Similarly, no women cracked the Best Director race – but, sadly, that comes as no surprise.

 

Could ‘Lesbian Themed’ Movies Rule Next Years Oscars?

Indiewire have updated their 2016 Oscar predictions, and they predict a very real possibility that over half of this year’s female acting nominations could go to portrayals of gay women.

Lesbians have represented at the Oscars before. Charlize Theron won for playing serial killer Aileen Wuornos, Nicole Kidman played Virginia Woolf, and Annette Bening almost won for her rule in the The Kids Are All Right. 

Also read: When It Pays To Be A Lesbian At The Oscars

So who has been tipped?

There is a possibility that openly gay actress Lily Tomlin could get a nomination for playing someone openly gay in Grandma. Which is actually a first – a lesbian actress being nominated for playing a lesbian character – shock horror!

Tomlin would also become the only second gay person to be nominated for playing a gay person. Ian McKellen is currently the only other example.

In Paul Weitz’s Grandma, Tomlin plays a lesbian poet who goes on a road trip with her granddaughter after she breaks up with her long-term partner.

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This is her first lead role in a film in over 27 years, and she’s incredible in it. Sony Pictures Classics is surely going to rev up a campaign for her come fall, in hopes of giving 75 year old Tomlin her first Oscar nomination since 1975, when she was nominated for Nashville. Our fingers are firmly crossed.

Also read: Watch | New Clip Released from Lily Tomlin’s New movie ‘Grandma’

If Tomlin does get nominated, she would almost certainly be competing against Cate Blanchett, who got insanely good reviews out of Cannes for Todd Haynes’ Carol. Blanchett plays half of a 1950s lesbian romance in the film, the other half being played by Rooney Mara, who beat out Blanchett for Cannes’ Best Actress award.

Carol-01

Mara is a very likely nominee too, though The Weinstein Company could very well campaign her in supporting.

Also read: Watch | First Teaser of Cate Blanchett’s new Lesbian / Bi-Feature Film ‘Carol’

Either way, this is three possible lesbian nominees.

And then there’s Freeheld, which we’ll likely be released at the Toronto Film Festival.

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The movie stars last year’s best actress winner Julianne Moore, who is paired with Ellen Page. The film is a classic Oscar bait story of real life lesbian Laurel Hester (Moore), a police officer in Ocean County, New Jersey. Following her diagnosis with terminal lung cancer in 2005, Hester repeatedly appealed to the county’s board of chosen freeholders in an attempt to ensure her pension benefits could be passed on to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree (Page).

Also read: Will Ellen Page’s “Freeheld” Be A Surprise Box Office Hit?

The film is actually based on a documentary short that won an Oscar, and is written by the same man who got a nomination for his screenplay for Philadelphia.

We obviously won’t know until we see it, but both Moore and Page sure seem like contenders for best actress and best support. That would also make Moore the only person to receive two nominations for playing queer characters.

Watch | New Clip Released from Lily Tomlin’s New movie ‘Grandma’

In her first leading role since 1988’s Big Business with Bette Midler, comedy legend, Lily Tomlin, plays Elle Reid – a bisexual feminist poet  – whose work is like catnip to women’s-studies majors and the like.

She is breaking up with her far younger girlfriend and still dealing with the death of her longtime partner, when her granddaughter, Sage, unexpectedly shows up needing $600 before sundown to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. The duo spend the day trying to get their hands on the cash as their unannounced visits to old friends and flames end up rattling skeletons and digging up secrets.

Like Tomlin herself, Elle is an out lesbian long before it was widely accepted, and her daughter, Judy, had Sage through an anonymous sperm donor. And now it is Sage’s turn to make a critical decision about her own body and the life of her unborn child — a decision, “Grandma” unambiguously argues, it is hers and only hers to make.

I know I’m putting myself on the line, kind of. But I trusted (writer-director by Paul Weitz) and I liked the material. First of all, he had written it with me in mind, and he wanted me. Then as we worked through the material, it just seemed like a good thing to do.”

Lily Tomlin

The film co-stars Julia Garner, Laverne Cox, Marcia Gay Harden and Judy Greer.

 

26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards Acknowledge Remarkable Year of Equality & Rise of Lesbian Visibility in Media

GLAAD have announced the nominees for its 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, and although the year has been a challenging one for queer female visibility in film, it has been positive in other areas such as TV shows (drama, comedy and documentary) and music.

In the TV world, lesbian/bisexual characters and storylines rode strong in 2014 and into 2015, and we now see a number of main-stream shows grace our TV screens with a flurry of positive queer female role models.

This was clear acknowledged by GLAAD who ensured to nominate a number of our favourite female star and shows for awards.

“For nearly 30 years, the GLAAD Media Awards have raised the bar for inclusion in news and entertainment, transforming LGBT representation in media and moving the dial for acceptance across the globe.

It’s been a remarkable year for equality, and nowhere is that more evident than in the visibility LGBT people have gained across media.

Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President & CEO

Although there is no major queer female-led film nominated, GLAAD did nominate academy award nominee The Imitation Game, Love is Strange,The Skeleton Twins, Golden Globe nominee Pride, and Melissa McCarthy’s comedy Tammy for the best wide-release film award.

Kathy Bates Tammy

In the Outstanding Artist Category, British singer, Sam Smith, is up against folk singer Mary Gauthier, rapper Angel Haze, punk rock band Against Me! and singer/songwriter Mary Lambert.

This year ABC tops the broadcast networks with six nominations, while HBO takes the most noms for a cable network with five nominations. To reflect the increasing diversity of LGBT storylines, GLAAD expanded the comedy and drama series categories from five to 10 nominees this year, to include a great number of shows.

ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder, Grey’s Anatomy and The Fosters are all contenders for best drama, while Netflix’s Orange is the New Black picked up a second nomination for best comedy in a row.

Orange is the New Black 02

In the documentary category The Case Against 8, about the landmark Supreme Case that overturned California’s ban on same sex marriage, was nominated along with True Trans with Laura Jan Grace, and To Russia With Love, about the Sochi Olympic Games and the Russian LGBT community. Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word, which follows the lives of seven transgender youths and Showtime’s L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin, about gay women living in the southern United States also got nods for outstanding documentary.

L Word Mississippi 05

In total, GLAAD announced 144 nominees in 31 English and Spanish language categories for the awards that will be presented at ceremonies in Los Angeles on March 21 and New York on May 9.

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See the complete list of nominees below.

OUTSTANDING FILM – WIDE RELEASE
The Imitation Game (The Weinstein Company)
Love is Strange (Sony Pictures Classics)
Pride (CBS Films)
The Skeleton Twins (Roadside Attractions)
Tammy (Warner Bros. Pictures)


OUTSTANDING FILM – LIMITED RELEASE
Dear White People (Lionsgate)
Life Partners (Magnolia Pictures)
Lilting (Strand Releasing)
The Way He Looks (Strand Releasing)
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (Film Movement)


OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Degrassi (TeenNick)
The Fosters (ABC Family)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)
Last Tango in Halifax (PBS)
Masters of Sex (Showtime)
Orphan Black (BBC America)
Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family)
Shameless (Showtime)


OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX)
Faking It (MTV)
Glee (FOX)
Looking (HBO)
Modern Family (ABC)
Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)
Please Like Me (Pivot)
Sirens (USA Network)
Transparent (Amazon Instant Video)
Vicious (PBS)


OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL EPISODE
(in a series without a regular LGBT character)
“Deep Breath” Doctor Who (BBC America)
“Down a Tree” Good Luck Charlie (Disney Channel)
“Identity Crisis” Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime)
“Let’s Have a Baby” Playing House (USA Network)
“No Lack of Void” Elementary (CBS)


OUTSTANDING TV MOVIE OR MINI-SERIES
The Normal Heart (HBO)


OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY
The Case Against 8 (HBO)
L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin (Showtime)
Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word (Logo / MTV)
To Russia with Love (Epix)
True Trans with Laura Jane Grace (AOL Originals)


OUTSTANDING REALITY PROGRAM
Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce (Fuse)
B.O.R.N. to Style (FYI)
Make or Break: The Linda Perry Project (VH1)
R&B Divas: Atlanta (TV One)
Survivor: San Juan del Sur (CBS)


OUTSTANDING DAILY DRAMA
Days of Our Lives (NBC)
General Hospital (ABC)


OUTSTANDING MUSIC ARTIST
Against Me!, Transgender Dysphoria Blues (Xtra Mile Recordings)
Angel Haze, Dirty Gold (Island Records/Republic Records)
Mary Gauthier, Trouble & Love (In the Black Records)
Mary Lambert, Heart on My Sleeve (Capitol Records)
Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour (Capitol Records)


OUTSTANDING COMIC BOOK
Hawkeye, written by Matt Fraction (Marvel Comics)
Lumberjanes, written by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis (BOOM! Studios)
Memetic, written by James Tynion IV (BOOM! Studios)
Rat Queens, written by Kurtis J. Wiebe (Image Comics)
Saga, written by Brian K. Vaughan (Image Comics)


OUTSTANDING TALK SHOW EPISODE
“Issues Facing the Transgender Community” Katie (syndicated)
“Laverne Cox discusses ‘The T Word'” The View (ABC)
“Michael Sam” Oprah Prime (OWN)
“Pepe Julian Onziema” Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
“Robin Roberts” The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated)


OUTSTANDING TV JOURNALISM – NEWSMAGAZINE
“Coming Out” Nick News With Linda Ellerbee (Nickelodeon)
“Gay and Muslim in America” America Tonight (Al Jazeera America)
“Gay Rodeo” This is Life with Lisa Ling (CNN)
“Infield & Out: Baseball for All” Morning Joe (MSNBC)
“Transgender Society” [series] Ronan Farrow Daily (MSNBC)


OUTSTANDING TV JOURNALISM SEGMENT
“Change is Coming to the South” Melissa Harris-Perry (MSNBC)
“Fired for Being Gay?” MSNBC Live (MSNBC)
“License to Discriminate?” Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)
“A Model with a Mission” Alicia Menendez Tonight (Fusion)
“Transgender Tipping Point?” This Week (ABC)


OUTSTANDING NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
“A Christian Family, a Gay Son and a Wichita Father’s Change of Heart” by Roy Wenzl (The Wichita Eagle)
“For Transgender Service Members, Honesty Can End Career” by Ernesto Londoño (The Washington Post)
“An Identity to Call Their Own” [series] by Michael A. Fuoco & Mackenzie Carpenter (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
“Longtime Utah LGBT Advocates Recount Brutal History” by Erin Alberty (Salt Lake City Tribune)
“When They Stopped Waiting” by Shaun McKinnon (The Arizona Republic)


OUTSTANDING MAGAZINE ARTICLE
“Do Ask, Do Tell” by S.L. Price (Sports Illustrated)
“The Forsaken” by Alex Morris (Rolling Stone)
“Inside the Iron Closet: What It’s Like to Be Gay in Putin’s Russia” by Jeff Sharlet (GQ)
“Sex Without Fear” by Tim Murphy (New York)
“The Transgender Tipping Point” by Katy Steinmetz (Time)


OUTSTANDING MAGAZINE OVERALL COVERAGE
Essence
Glamour
Out
Sports Illustrated
Time


OUTSTANDING DIGITAL JOURNALISM ARTICLE
“31 Days of PrEP” [series] (Advocate.com)
“Black Parents, Gay Sons and Redefining Masculinity” by Edward Wyckoff Williams (TheRoot.com)
“Conner Mertens came out to his college football team. Now he comes out publicly.” by Cyd Zeigler (Outsports.com)
“A Nun’s Secret Ministry Brings Hope to the Transgender Community” by Nathan Schneider (America.Aljazeera.com)
“A Year Later, ‘Nothing’ Has Changed Since Transgender Woman Islan Nettles was Killed” by Tony Merevick (Buzzfeed.com)


OUTSTANDING DIGITAL JOURNALISM – MULTIMEDIA
“Left Behind: LGBT Homeless Youth Struggle to Survive on the Streets” by Miranda Leitsinger (NBCNews.com)
“Why did the U.S. Lock Up These Women with Men?” by Cristina Costantini, Jorge Rivas, Kristofer Ríos (Fusion.net)
“With Technology I Didn’t Have to Sell My Body” by Kerri Pang (MSNBC.com)
“Young and Gay: Jamaica’s Gully Queens” by Adri Murguia, Christo Geoghegan (News.Vice.com)
“Young and Gay in Putin’s Russia” by Milene Larsson (News.Vice.com)


OUTSTANDING BLOG
The Art of Transliness (theartoftransliness.com)
Autostraddle (autostraddle.com)
Box Turtle Bulletin (boxturtlebulletin.com)
Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters (holybulliesandheadlessmonsters.blogspot.com)
My Fabulous Disease (marksking.com)


SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Dragon Age: Inquisition (BioWare/Electronic Arts)


OUTSTANDING DAYTIME PROGRAM EPISODE
“Cementerio homófobo” Caso Cerrado (Telemundo)
“Maestro despedido por [ser] gay” Caso Cerrado (Telemundo)
“Un mundo de juegos” La Rosa de Guadalupe (Univision)


OUTSTANDING TELEVISION INTERVIEW
“Abigail Pereira participante transgénero de Yo Soy El Artista” Suelta La Sopa Extra (Telemundo)
“En cuerpo ajeno” Un Nuevo Día (Telemundo)
“Felicia en Ventaneando: Platica sobre su transformación” Ventaneando (Azteca)
“Identidad Sin Fronteras: Inmigrantes transgénero buscan nueva vida en EEUU” Despierta América (Univision)
“Intolerancia familiar” Realidades en Contexto (CNN en Español)


OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY
“Identidad sin fronteras” Panorámica (Univision/Pivot)
La Travesía del Atleta Gay (CNN en Español)


OUTSTANDING TV JOURNALISM – NEWSMAGAZINE
“Felipe Najera abre su corazón” Primer Impacto (Univision)
“Michael Sam confiesa su homosexualidad” Sin Límites (CNN Latino)
“Orlando Cruz habla de su vida” Al Rojo Vivo (Telemundo)
“Vínculos y rupturas” Aquí y Ahora (Univision)


OUTSTANDING TV JOURNALISM SEGMENT
“Corte Suprema de Justicia en EE.UU decline estudiar recursos sobre bodas del mismo sexo” Informativo NTN (NTN24)
“Posibles sanciones” Noticiero Telemundo (Telemundo)
“La historia de una [mujer] transexual” Café CNN (CNN en Español)
“Obama apoya la comunidad transgénera” Noticias MundoFOX (MundoFOX)
“Ya no hay obstáculos” Noticiero Univision (Univision)


OUTSTANDING LOCAL TV JOURNALISM
“En centros de detención” Noticias Telemundo Arizona (KTAZ-Telemundo 39 [Phoenix])
“Cobertura de Spirit Day” [serie] Noticias 34 (KMEX-Univision 34 [Los Angeles])
“Justicia para Zoraida Reyes” Noticiero Telemundo (KVEA-Telemundo 52 [Los Angeles]
“Nombran a la primer mujer gay al Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico” Ultima Hora (Univision [Puerto Rico])
“Tacones de charro” Noticias 34 (KMEX-Univision 34 [Los Angeles])


OUTSTANDING NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
“Caravana gay en contra la marginalidad social” by Panky Corcino (El Diario New York)
“¿Es la TV latina homofóbica? La respuesta te sorprenderá.” by Marta Sarabia (La Opinión)
“Gay, indocumentado y sin cuidados médicos” by Patricia A González-Portillo (La Opinión)
“Latino gay elegido alcalde de Long Beach responde a ataques homofóbicos” by Olivia Tallet (La Voz de Houston)
“Mamá, soy homosexual dijo Ricardo; su familia no entendió y lo corrió de su casa” by Selene Rivera (Hoy Los Angeles)


OUTSTANDING DIGITAL JOURNALISM ARTICLE
“Identidades invisibles” [serie] by Marcos Billy Guzmán (ElNuevoDia.com)
“Identidad sin fronteras, un documental sobre los inmigrantes transgénero” (PeopleenEspañol.com)
“Una misión: repartir amor” by Istra Pacheco (PrimeraHora.com)
“¿Qué tan difícil es salir del clóset en Colombia?” (BBCMundo.com)
“Ser gay en China: La bandera del arco iris ondea libremente” (CNNEspanol.CNN.com)


OUTSTANDING DIGITAL JOURNALISM – MULTIMEDIA
“Derechos de los homosexuales entran a la campaña electoral en Brasil” by Shasta Darlington (CNNEspanol.CNN.com)
“Hispanos LGBT quieren su propia reforma” by Álvaro Ortiz (LaVozTX.com)
“Maité Oronoz jura como juez asociada del Tribunal Supremo” by Rebecca Bamuchi (PrimeraHora.com)
“¿Que es ENDA?” by Cary Tabares (Univision.com)
“Venezuela: Madre lesbiana pide al Parlamento reconocer derechos de su hijo” (EFE.com)


SPECIAL RECOGNITION
“Era Diferente” Los Tigres del Norte