INFOGRAPHIC: Data firm Farsite has gotten their Nate Silver on and predicted the winners of this year’s Academy Awards. Their predictions include Lincoln for Best Picture, Daniel Day-Lewis for Best Actor and Steven Spielberg for Best Director; Silver Linings Playbook‘s Jennifer Lawrence for Best Actress; and Anne Hathaway for Best Supporting Actress for Les Misérables.
Farsite noted, however, the lack of LGBT films and characters represented in this year’s crop of nominees, especially since over the past 10 years, playing gay has often paved the way to Oscar gold. The number-crunchers took the 13 identifiable LGBT roles that have received Oscar nominations, as well as SAG and Golden Globe nods, in this time span and created the following handy-dandy infographic.
This year’s Oscars are not completely devoid of the gay as out playwright Tony Kushner is up for his screenplay for Lincoln, seminal AIDS doc How to Survive a Plague is nominated for Best Documentary and ParaNorman, the first Oscar-nominated animated film featuring a gay character, will compete for Best Animated Film.
Tune into ABC on February 24 at 7 pm to see if they’ll fly the rainbow flag over the Academy.
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Brian
It’s scary to think how little Hollywood has progressed on the issue of roles that involve male homosexuality. If we are to be allowed in major movies, we are permitted only to be the comical sidekicks or running jokes. Studio heads in Hollywood – including liberal ones – have a policy of “watching for homosexuality” and eliminating it if possible during the script-writing and overall production process.
Consider Liincoln: a gay scriptwriter (Tony Kushner) seems to have avoided any mention of the fact that Lincoln shared his bed with another man. It’s a historical fact which Kushner conveniently seems to have skipped over.
The documentaries that received Oscar nominations depict gay men as either dying of AIDS or committing suicide. Take your pick as to which is more of a positive spin on life.
Hollywood hates us, basically. The people who work there – including gays – are directed to reduce us or eliminate us from depictions in major movies. If a movie contains a gay male who isn’t stereotypical, it reduces the likelihood of it getting the go-ahead financially.
Fidelio
It didn’t cross my mind that lack of LGBT films, actors, or characters weren’t adequately recognized in this year’s Oscar noms. I just thought they weren’t any qualified or nomination-worthy works to be considered. I mean, I liked Perks of Being a Wallflower and all, but it’s not exactly Lincoln or Beasts of the Southern Wild. But, hey, Les Miserable made it. And lest we forget Daniel Day Lewis in My Beautiful Laundrette. The champagne kiss scene was totally nut-busting.
Brian
Fidello,
What on earth has Les Miserables got to do with gay rights? There is not one gay person in it.
Regarding the lack of recognition of gay characters by the Academy, it’s because there aren’t any worth considering. And why is that? It’s because there are hardly any homosexual male roles permitted in the movies. Hollywood won’t allow them in in the first place.
Fidelio
@Brian: Les Miz has as much to do with gay culture as much as this story has to do with gay rights. At least we agree the problem is there weren’t any worth considering this cycle.
IvanPH
Infographic is slightly inaccurate. Christopher Plummer actually won the SAG award.
queertardo
the infographic is correct, Plummer won a SAG Award, A Golden Globe, a Bafta and an Oscar for the role of a gay man in his 70’s who comes out after his wife dies, in the film, Beginners.
IvanPH
@queertardo: Please read the infographic chart carefully. There is A BLUE RIGHT TRIANGLE beside his name. The blue right triangle indicates that he was only nominated and did not win the SAG Award. This is inaccurate since he won that one.