Utkarsh Chaturvedi: (10th March, 2010)
This will be remembered as a historical Oscar event in the award’s 82 years prestigious history. Not only the glass ceiling at the Academy awards broke, the awards also showed the triumph of an underdog.
‘The Hurt Locker’- This year’s best picture was made on a meager budget of $11 million which is many times lower than James Cameroon’s fee for directing the biggest blockbuster of all times. ‘Avatar’ garnered much critical acclaim, not to mention the love from the audiences around the world. It is regarded as a technical marvel of our generation and was poised to win big this Sunday. But what went wrong? Why did the biggest blockbuster, directed by one of the greatest directors, was stumped by a minnow? What can we learn from all this?
First, the extra-ordinary triumph of Kathryn Bigelow, the director of ‘The Hurt Locker’ marks the start of a new era in the movie scene today. Till last year, the academy award for best director was thought to be a domain of men but Ms. Bigelow proved that even in the face of insurmountable odds, talent and hard work always pay off, no matter who you are. This does not mean that James Cameroon isn’t equally talented. But this year, his ex wife took the glory back home. While it was predicted that James Cameroon will again rule the award ceremony like he did twelve years ago, but the real picture turned out to be quite a different one. But this is seen as a breath of fresh air. With the first women ever to win an academy award for directing, more women will be motivated to perform similar feats in a male dominated area. This showed us that when individuals dare to bring about change happen, it happens.
But what made the world sit up and take notice of a small time movie over seemingly big names? The reason is that people are now concerned more about matters close at hand. Priority is now given to proximity. Events, which have an immediate impact on today, are much more important than the events which might take place hundreds of years in the future. The world today cares more about the present political scenario and contemporary ideas, not the fact that humans have an inherent tendency to be greedy.
The writer is a correspondent of Youth Ki Awaaz.