Well done MTV...but are we ready for gender neutral awards?

On April 6, the nominations for the 2017 MTV Movie and TV Awards were announced with one glaring difference from other years and other award shows...the acting categories had gone gender neutral.

Both the Best Actor in a Movie and Best Actor in a Show categories this year contain both male and female nominees, a move that has not been seen before in major award shows (with the exception of the Grammys and Britain's National Television Awards). A split right down the middle occurred with the Film nominations with three male and three female actors in contention, while four females were nominated in the Television show category and two males. Although the MTV Awards do not carry the same prestige as other award shows (Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, etc.), it is a move that certainly shows a move forward in gender equality in Hollywood and the entertainment business.

While this move for the MTV Movie & TV Awards is a very positive one, it makes one ponder whether the idea could catch on and other award shows follow suit. It would definitely be a strong stand for women and one many would embrace and celebrate. MTV can be commended for making such a strong statement and as the awards are voted for by the public, it would not be a surprise to see Emma Watson, Hailee Steinfeld or Taraji P. Henson voted for as the winner for this reason.

However, could this move by MTV encourage other award shows to become gender neutral?

The answer isn't no...it is not yet.

This has nothing to do with the quality of male and female actors in the business. Talent wise both genders are without a doubt on par with one another. The problem lies with lack of substantial roles available to women in Hollywood, especially in film. This is not a new argument. Mary Pickford said in 1935 "It’s becoming a woman’s world, year by year, almost day by day". This still rings true, but more than 80 years later we are still fighting for gender equality in Hollywood in regards to the number of strong female roles among other issues. We have come a long way, but there is still a long way to go.

Believing that there should or should not be gender neutral acting categories when awards season rolls around has nothing to do with sexism or feminism, it has to do with fairness. While the quantity of these strong female roles is significantly less than that of males, it would make it a great deal harder for females to compete and win an Oscar or any other award with gender neutral categories.

For example, let's look at this years Oscars in the four acting categories. All four categories had wonderful performances by incredible actors, but the two male categories were seemingly more competitive than the female categories. Both the female categories had clear frontrunners for the majority of the awards season with the other eight nominees giving very good performances, but not strong enough to be competition. On the other hand, the male categories (especially Best Performance by an Actor in A Leading Role) went down to the line on the night as a result of the several incredible performances in strong and intense roles.

So this would have meant that this year Casey Affleck would have been directly competing with Emma Stone and Mahershala Ali with Viola Davis. These would have no doubt been intriguing and unpredictable competitions, but one would fear that the actual nomination fields would have consisted more of males than of females.

The good news is that things are changing in Hollywood as we speak....unfortunately just not as quickly as we would like. There may well be a chance in the future to combine the male and female acting categories at prestigious award shows, but that day is not today. If it was to happen, it would most definitely shorten the length of award shows, which would make many people happy. The other argument here is that many creatives prefer not to label themselves as male or female so eliminating gender specific categories is more politically and socially acceptable.

Without a doubt, it is a great move by MTV to make their awards gender neutral and they deserve praise for initiating a giant step towards gender equality in the film world. It may not be time for the bigger and more prestigious industry awards to do the same, but that day is coming.

Hidden Figures (2016) film review

Year: 2016
Running Time: 127 minutes
Director: Theodore Melfi
Writers: Margot Lee Shetterly (based on the book written by), Allison Shroeder and Theodore Melfi (screenplay)
Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner, Jim Parsons, Kirsten Dunst, Mahershala Ali

Hidden Figures is now showing in the United States and will be released in Australia on February 16. Distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Like the incredible women in the film, Hidden Figures is smart, entertaining and inspirational. It's a wonderfully sharp film that provides a nostalgic and informative snapshot of history while never neglecting it's responsibility to pay the greatest tribute to it's remarkable heroines.

Set in 1961, Hidden Figures is the widely unknown story of how three extraordinary women overcame the unavoidable obstacles of race and gender to assist NASA in their quest to put men in space and ultimately on the moon. Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae), all of who were close friends, made their mark on history in each of their fields at NASA at a time when racial segregation was still in place in the state of Virginia and women still struggled to be taken seriously in the workplace.

Hidden Figures is truly a marvellous piece of filmmaking by director and co-writer, Theodore Melfi. At 127 minutes, it is by no means a short film. However, it is still incredible how much it does and says in this amount of time without seeming heavy or overloaded.

Hidden Figures never once loses focus of it's primary goal, which is to tell the story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson. Yet at the same time, the film also provides an intriguing and nostalgic historical imprint of early 1960's in the United States, a time when a great deal of interesting things were taking place. Tensions were high between the United States and Russia and were heightened when Russian, Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. Being beaten by the Russians in such a time did not sit well with the country and especially not with NASA.

Of course, one of the glaringly obvious themes of Hidden Figures is racism and prejudice. In 1961, the state of Virginia was three years away from having segregation abolished under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Even in the film, there is a sense that a change is in the air, but racial tension was very much alive and well. The film works as a reminder that despite growing rights for the coloured in the early 1960's, racism was inbuilt in society so much that it was not often even recognised by whites for what it was. It was just an accepted way of thinking, as was demonstrated by various characters in the film including Kirsten Dunst's Vivian Mitchell. In a memorable exchange between her and Octavia Spencer's Dorothy Vaughan, the following dialogue sums up this notion completely:-

"Despite what you think, I have nothing against y'all"

"I know you probably believe that"

This may look and sound like an insult, but it is not that as it is nothing but the truth. Hidden Figures contains numerous memorable and important pieces of dialogue such as this, but they can also feel as though they were included for people to comment on their importance. This may not sit well with some cinemagoers, but Melfi and Allison Schroeder have achieved their purpose as here we are indeed referring to them.

Yet as much as Hidden Figures is a beautifully made historical picture, it does not forget it's primary responsibility is to highlight the ways Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson overcame seemingly impossible obstacles to achieve incredible things. The screenplay allows for the character development and in depth study of all three of the main characters so that one feels as though they are satisfied with how well they know each of the women. Not only that, but each character has their own unique personality and they have been brilliantly cast in order to make the most of their glorious character traits.

Right from the first scene which the three women appear in together on the deserted road when their car breaks down, you feel as if you are already getting a sense of who Katherine, Dorothy and Mary are and they are all a sheer joy to watch in this scene. Taraji P. Henson is wonderful as Katherine in that she is restrained, but powerful. More importantly, she is relatable and completely likable. Octavia Spencer also gives a strong performance as Dorothy, who is also rather maternal not just around her children, but also over her workers. Janelle Monae is a particular standout as Mary. From that first car scene, one can tell she is the sassy, street smart one of the trio, but not in a way that is unnatural by any means or arrogant. She is great fun to watch and brings a certain sense of "cool" to the film, but in a mature and serious manner so not to take anything away from her achievements.

Hidden Figures is enjoyable and entertaining, but not overwhelming. The brilliance of this is that it does not detract from the enlightening, intelligent and inspiring story of these three incredible women.

9/10

Moonlight (2016) film review

Year: 2016
Running Time: 111 minutes
Director: Barry Jenkins
Writers: Barry Jenkins (screenplay), Tarell Alvin McCraney (story)
Cast: Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes, Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Janelle Monae, Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome, Andre Holland

Moonlight is now showing everywhere and is distributed in Australia by Roadshow Films.

Writing about Barry Jenkins' magnificent Moonlight is no easy task.

Moonlight is a stunningly unique and moving coming of age story which is deceptively complex whilst simultaneously being incredibly sweet and simple. It beautifully explores the concept of identity and the ways in which our environment and the people in it shape who we become with incredible performances of wonderful characters by the stellar cast.

The Jenkins directed film tells the story of one boy as he becomes a man and tells his tale in a way that avoids the typical mode of storytelling found in generic coming of age stories. Moonlight is divided into three parts which represent pre-adolescence, adolescence and adulthood and are each titled according to what name our protagonist is called at the time.

Part One: Little

We first meet Chiron, who is currently known as Little (Alex R. Hibbert) as a young boy who is being tormented by bullies and trying to escape. By chance, he meets Juan (Mahershala Ali) who takes him under his wing and gives him sanctuary away from his troubled mother, Paula (Naomie Harris). Even at this young age, Little is showing signs that he may have homosexual tendencies and he tries to make sense of this with the help of Juan.

Part One of Moonlight is a sensational and strong opening to the film and gives us some of the best scenes of 2016 featuring the amazing and memorable characters of Little/Chiron and Juan. The character of Juan, wonderfully played by Mahershala Ali, is so special and it is devastating that he only appears in his fragment of Chiron's story, but this is also understandable and vital to the rest of the film. Ali's performance is incredibly powerful and he is instantly likable, while Naomie Harris' Paula sends waves of pain and torture through you in the best of ways.

The simply beautiful ocean scene is the most important of the film. Not only is it an example of the film's incredible cinematography by James Laxton, but it is where Juan leaves a true impression on Little with the following quote:-

"At some point, you gotta decide for yourself who you're going to be. Can't let nobody make that decision for you."

This is the epicentre of the film. Moonlight is at it's heart about the formation of identity and creating that identity yourself, but outside influences encourage you to make this decision. It is also this scene that the colour blue is discussed ("In moonlight, black boys look blue"). The colour plays a large symbolic part in the film by appearing at moments (in the form of lighting, costume, etc.) which are shaping Chiron as a person and he is making a connection.

Part Two: Chiron

In Part Two, we meet Chiron (Ashton Sanders) as a sixteen year old, who is still being bullied at school for his appearance and his now assumed sexual orientation. His mother has plummeted further into her drug-fuelled haze and Chiron is now more her keeper than she being the strong force in his life she should be. He finds a kindred spirit in classmate, Kevin (Jharrel Jerome) who is the only person in his life to bring him happiness and acceptance. However, a terrible turn of fate results in Chiron's trust horrifically being broken by Kevin and setting off a chain reaction of life-changing events.

Part Two is the weakest of the three parts, but needs to be so for Part Three to be as special as what it is. Watching Ashton Sanders' Chiron in this third is incredibly painful as he struggles to navigate his way through this confusing and torturous time, but there really is this incredible tension you feel as a viewer as you sense him head towards his breaking point. The exact moment when Chiron changes the course of his life is captured in the most confronting, graphic and powerful way that is certainly breathtaking.

Part Three: Black

Part Three is the reinvention of Chiron, who is now an adult going by the name of Black (Trevante Rhodes) and unrecognisable with his new, harder persona. He has now become a man of the streets and is very much like Juan, the man he idolised as a young boy. Black has moved away from Miami, but is drawn back when he receives an unexpected phone call from Kevin (Andre Holland).

Part Three of Moonlight is absolutely stunning and emotionally charged. Chiron/Black formed his identity after reaching his breaking point and no longer letting anyone define him. He emotionally shut himself down to everyone in his life, but that barrier is ripped open when he once again hears from Kevin. The scenes in Part Three between Trevante Rhodes as Black and Andre Holland as Kevin are just beautiful. There is so much being said without either of the character's having to use dialogue and the camera picks up on every thought and emotion is exchanged between the two. While Chiron/Black and Kevin are rediscovering each other, it is impossible not to fall in love with the two while watching them.

Moonlight truly is a film like no other and is a sensational piece of filmmaking that restores your faith in love and the human spirit. It is a film that with it's powerful characters and superb cinematography, musical score and underlying themes will not only be greatly studied by film students, but will be loved by cinemagoers for years to come.

9.5/10