hold on, honey, I'll handle this
Mark Boal is a ball-hog.
There, I said it.
After waiting all day for this to emerge on the internets–unsuccessfully–I hereby put it down.
Whether The Hurt Locker truly was the best picture of the year or not, there is no question that the last few minutes of the telecast were a weird throwback to balance the breakthrough.
First, her Best Director win was greeted with Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman.” The women in my company with were guffawing in disbelief that such a relic (1972) would be used to trivialize a win for one of the more unflinching mainstream movies of the year. I was waiting for her to bust out a Virginia Slim and tell us “We’ve Come A Long Way, Baby!”
Then again, Carey Mulligan, age 24, was greeted with “Thank Heaven For Little Girls.”
Who is their music supervisor? Guy Lombardo?
But I digress. The strange quick-blurt-it-rewind-and-you-still-miss-it Best Picture announcement by Tom Hanks was followed by a most unusual speech.
First of all it, was led by a screenwriter – long known to the lowest form of life in Hollywood, well behind Craft Service.
Secondly, Boals was awkwardly holding her by the arm, seeming to quite literally hold her back. Very small-town, bully-boyfriend style – as the men I watched it with concurred. It may not have been a Kanye moment, but it was not gracious.
Thirdly, he chewed up her airtime. Although he, too, had already had a shot at his own speech.
Typically, best picture speeches are all about the producers and perhaps the director. Maybe a marquee actor. The screenwriter?
It’s good to be Kathryn’s boyfriend. Just ask James Cameron.
image: getty
Jane Doe 