‘Hustlers’ is about women who don’t need men. No wonder the Oscars snubbed it.

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The patriarchy strikes back.

“Hustlers” is about women and female friendships and how those friendships can become family — but it’s also about how those friendships develop in the absence of support from men. Both Lopez’s Ramona and Wu’s Destiny are single mothers with no evident support from the respective fathers. There is money to be made at the club, but only if you pay out to the gatekeepers, endure their come-ons, vague threats and shakedowns (“You want to keep working VIP?”), and please the high-rollers who come in through the back into a room with no cameras and no consequences. Throughout the movie, we see men failing these women, from Destiny’s former puppy-dog-faced suitor who hides in his sauna so his wife won’t hear him taking her call, to Ramona’s jerk manager at the Gap, where she lands briefly after the financial crisis, who refuses to give her time off to pick up her kid.

The movie got no Oscar nominations.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/ ... nubbed-it/
By Rachel Sklar: A former lawyer who writes about media, politics, gender and culture

It was gorgeous, stylish, dark, gritty, edgy (homemade drugs, for all of you people who loved “Breaking Bad!”), thrilling, and the perfect cocktail of morally ambiguous yet righteous (once again, for all of you people who loved “Breaking Bad”). It was a stripper movie, a heist movie, a buddy comedy, a drug movie, a capitalist fable, an exploration of friendship and family, a period piece — and there were tons of gorgeous, amazing women looking super-duper hot. It even had a training montage featuring feats of physical prowess by an elite athlete at the top of her form. Like “The Wolf of Wall Street,” but with Cardi B and Lizzo! Based on a true story! The Academy was gonna love it. Right? Right?

Well, the Academy loved “The Wolf of Wall Street,” which got nominated for best director and best adapted screenplay (among others) in 2014, but somehow, something changed when the women were the wolves instead of the playthings.

Despite amazing buzz, a star-studded cast, impressive box office, great reviews and a steady awards-season drumbeat, “Hustlers” came up empty across all categories when the Academy Award nominations were announced.

Whatever could have made the difference here? Could it be that the heroes of “Hustlers” were … women? Could it be that it focused on women pointedly to the exclusion of men? Sure, there were men in the film — someone had to throw cash at J. Lo! — but they were nameless and generic, not characters to be developed and considered. In the “Hustlers” universe, the women are the protagonists and the ringleaders, driving the action and working together to learn, grow and experiment with grand larceny. The men are a means to an end in terms of money, but they provide little to support or nurture the women — they are either foolish marks to exploit, or corrupt and abusive of their own powers at every step along the chain. The men are an anonymous collection of whiny boyfriends, sulky husbands, petty managers or guffawing cops, and they all undervalue and underestimate the women. There are two, maybe three sympathetic men in the movie, plus Usher. Otherwise, it’s a matriarchy functioning on female power and connection. (Is there a male version of that?)
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: ‘Hustlers’ is about women who don’t need men. No wonder the Oscars snubbed it.

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The Oscars don't mean shit. They are nothing but a big advertising gimmick, giving "awards" to themselves. It's like Donald Trump considering awarding himself the Medal of Freedom.

"How Green was My Valley" was picked as best pic over "Citizen Kane"
"The French Connection" was picked over "A Clockwork Orange"
"Ordinary People" was picked over "Raging Bull"
Jimmy Stewart's pedestrian role in "The Philadelphia Story" was named Best Actor over Henry Fonda's masterpiece as Tom Joad in "Grapes of Wrath".

And last year the "Best Actress" went to the ONE boring, pedestrian role over all the fabulous performances.

The Oscars don't mean shit. I made it about 1/3 of the way through "Once Upon a Time..in Hollywood" before I got bored with it, which, since I usually like Quenton Tarantino movies very much, was a surprise. But it's nominated for Best Pic.

On Oscar night, go shooting, watch something else, go out to dinner...don't waste your time. I watched last year because my wanted to, and it was a total waste of time.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: ‘Hustlers’ is about women who don’t need men. No wonder the Oscars snubbed it.

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K9s wrote: Wed Jan 15, 2020 8:51 pm I don't think I have ever watched the Oscars, but it does make a huge difference to the actors, etc when it comes to future pay negotiations.
Yup, an advertising gimmick.

Like all the Game of Thrones actors ALL insisting that Season 8 was great, when virtually 90% of the fans were infuriated at how dreadful it was, including me!

I was paying HBONOW $15/month for 2 years to get 6 episodes of Season 8 (took 2 years to get from S7 to S8)--that's $60 / 1hr ep and they if they were merely dreadful, that would have been a 1000% improvement! I cancelled HBONOW immediately after!

But the actors HAVE to say it was wonderful (when they know it was actually toxic waste) if they want to ever work again!
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: ‘Hustlers’ is about women who don’t need men. No wonder the Oscars snubbed it.

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YankeeTarheel wrote: Wed Jan 15, 2020 10:53 pm
K9s wrote: Wed Jan 15, 2020 8:51 pm I don't think I have ever watched the Oscars, but it does make a huge difference to the actors, etc when it comes to future pay negotiations.
Yup, an advertising gimmick.

Like all the Game of Thrones actors ALL insisting that Season 8 was great, when virtually 90% of the fans were infuriated at how dreadful it was, including me!

I was paying HBONOW $15/month for 2 years to get 6 episodes of Season 8 (took 2 years to get from S7 to S8)--that's $60 / 1hr ep and they if they were merely dreadful, that would have been a 1000% improvement! I cancelled HBONOW immediately after!

But the actors HAVE to say it was wonderful (when they know it was actually toxic waste) if they want to ever work again!
At least they don't have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein anymore.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: ‘Hustlers’ is about women who don’t need men. No wonder the Oscars snubbed it.

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I never would go to a Lopez movie let alone a concert. I just don't think she's all that great.
The Irishman, just another narrated version of Goodfella's. Horrible Martin Scorsese shoulda known better.
I did go see Little Women with the wife, it was OK for a chick flick.
I thought Joker was great.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”

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