The Best Picture nominees at this year’s Oscars have one thing in common: if they’re not about a broody, flawed, male genius, they’re made by one. Maybe the Academy should announce the Best Picture winner by scribbling it down furiously on an Ivy League dorm window with a Sharpie.
Whether it’s Alan Turing or Stephen Hawking or Martin Luther King, Jr., a drumming prodigy or a Navy SEAL or a theatrical powerhouse, six of the eight movies nominated for the Best Picture Oscar have the same agenda– a glimpse inside the dark and twisty mind of an exceptionally gifted man who is not like most mortals. The other two movies, Boyhood and The Grand Budapest Hotel, are passion projects of men who have long been heralded as geniuses themselves — Richard Linklater and Wes Anderson.
In the aftermath of the mostly-white, mostly-male Oscar nominations earlier this year, many pundits lamented the fact that the Oscars seemed so focused on the “complicated genius” profile. Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post even wrote a hilarious fake movie script that incorporates all the tropes of movies about geniuses. In a single line, she sums up the message of pretty much every Best Picture nominee this year: “Being a genius like me is hard.”
But the focus on genius is more than just a weird coincidence — it also could explain the lack of diversity at the Oscars this year, especially for women.
So all the Oscar films are about male geniuses — who cares? What’s wrong with grandiose celebrations of male intellectual accomplishments? Some of the world’s greatest triumphs were won with the brains of super-smart ubermenches! Well, for one thing, scientists have shown that genius-obsessed environments may be toxic for women. According to a new study published in January in Science, women and minorities are underrepresented in academic fields that are seen to value “innate brilliance” over hard work, like physics and math (ahem, Stephen Hawking and Alan Turing.) That’s because women are often stereotyped as not having the “spark of genius” that seems essential to that field. Even outside the academic sphere, professions that are wrapped up in an aura of “genius” don’t seem to be particularly hospitable to women. Just look at classical music, which reveres prodigies like Beethoven and Mozart — and four out of five of American orchestra conductors are male.
So is it a coincidence that an Oscar season that is so fixated on “genius” is also so feeble when it comes to women and minorities? Probably not. Between Ava Duvernay’s Best Director snub, the all-male nominations for screenwriting and the fact that no Best Picture nominees had a female lead, this year’s Oscars is considered one of the worst for women in recent memory. Considering the all-white acting nominations and snubs for Selma in all categories but two, this Oscars season is a low point for racial diversity as well.
For the Academy, it’s also an image problem. Considering all the bad press this year’s Oscars has gotten for the worst representation of women and minorities in almost 20 years, the fixation on genius doesn’t seem so brilliant after all.
1929: Emil Jannings - The Last Command and The Way of All FleshImagno/Getty Images1930: Warner Baxter - In Old ArizonaHulton Archive/Getty Images1931: George Arliss - DisraeliPrint Collector/Getty Images1932: Lionel Barrymore - A Free SoulPopperfoto/Getty Images1933: Fredric March - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1947: Fredric March - The Best Years of Our LivesPopperfoto/Getty Images1933: Wallace Beery - The ChampPopperfoto/Getty Images1934: Charles Laughton - The Private Life of Henry VIIIHulton Archive/Getty Images1935: Clark Gable - It Happened One NightMichael Ochs Archives/Getty Images1936: Victor McLaglen - The InformerPrint Collector/Getty Images1937: Paul Muni - The Story of Louis PasteurPrint Collector/Getty Images1938: Spencer Tracy - Captains Courageous
1939: Spencer Tracy - Boys TownClarence Sinclair Bull—John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images1940: Robert Donat - Goodbye, Mr. ChipsSilver Screen Collection/Getty Images1941: James Stewart - The Philadelphia StoryJohn Kobal Foundation/Getty Images1942: Gary Cooper - Sergeant York
1953: Gary Cooper - High NoonHulton Archive/Getty Images1943: James Cagney - Yankee Doodle DandyPopperfoto/Getty Images1944: Paul Lukas - Watch on the RhinePopperfoto/Getty Images1945: Bing Crosby - Going My WayHulton Archive/Getty Images1946: Ray Milland - The Lost WeekendSilver Screen Collection/Getty Images1948: Ronald Colman - A Double LifeGetty Images1949: Laurence Olivier - HamletMondadori/Getty Images1950: Broderick Crawford - All the King's MenColumbia Pictures/Getty Images1951: José Ferrer - Cyrano de BergeracMondadori/Getty Images1952: Humphrey Bogart - The African QueenArchive Photos/Getty Images1954: William Holden - Stalag 17Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images1955: Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront
1973: Marlon Brando - The GodfatherHulton Archive/Getty Images1956: Ernest Borgnine - MartyGAB Archive/Redferns/Getty Images1957: Yul Brynner - The King and IArchive Photos/Getty Images1958: Alec Guinness - The Bridge on the River KwaiHulton Archive/Getty Images1959: David Niven - Separate TablesSilver Screen Collection/Getty Images1960: Charlton Heston - Ben-HurMondadori/Getty Images1961: Burt Lancaster - Elmer GantryArchive Photos/Getty Images1962: Maximilian Schell - Judgment at NurembergPictorial Parade/Getty Images1963: Gregory Peck - To Kill a MockingbirdSilver Screen Collection/Getty Images1964: Sidney Poitier - Lilies of the FieldJohn D. Kisch—Separate Cinema Archive/Getty Images1965: Rex Harrison - My Fair LadyArchive Photos/Getty Images1966: Lee Marvin - Cat BallouSilver Screen Collection/Getty Images1967: Paul Scofield - A Man for All SeasonsMichael Ochs Archives/Getty Images1968: Rod Steiger - In the Heat of the NightSilver Screen Collection/Getty Images1969: Cliff Robertson - CharlyCamerique/Getty Images1970: John Wayne - True GritPhotoshot/Getty Images1971: George C. Scott - PattonSilver Screen Collection/Getty Images1972: Gene Hackman - The French Connection20th Century Fox/Getty Images1974: Jack Lemmon - Save the TigerSilver Screen Collection/Getty Images1975: Art Carney - Harry and TontoRon Galella—WireImage/Getty Images1976: Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1998: Jack Nicholson - As Good as It GetsArchive Photos/Getty Images1977: Peter Finch - NetworkMichael Ochs Archives/Getty Images1978: Richard Dreyfuss - The Goodbye GirlRon Galella—WireImage/Getty Images1979: Jon Voight - Coming HomeRon Galella—WireImage/Getty Images1980: Dustin Hoffman - Kramer vs. Kramer
1989: Dustin Hoffman - Rain ManRon Galella—WireImage/Getty Images1981: Robert De Niro - Raging BullRon Galella—WireImage/Getty Images1982: Henry Fonda - On Golden PondLyn Alweis—Denver Post/Getty Images1983: Ben Kingsley - GandhiDoug McKenzie—Getty Images1984: Robert Duvall - Tender MerciesDave Allocca—DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images1985: F. Murray Abraham - AmadeusRon Galella—WireImage/Getty Images1986: William Hurt - Kiss of the Spider WomanTerry O'Neill—Hulton Archive/Getty Images1987: Paul Newman - The Color of MoneyMichael Ochs Archives/Getty Images1988: Michael Douglas - Wall StreetDarlene Hammond—Archive Photos/Getty Images1990: Daniel Day-Lewis - My Left Foot
2008: Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
2013: Daniel Day-Lewis - LincolnRon Galella—WireImage/Getty Images1991: Jeremy Irons - Reversal of FortuneRon Galella—WireImage/Getty Images1992: Anthony Hopkins - The Silence of the LambsRon Galella—WireImage/Getty Images1993: Al Pacino - Scent of a WomanRon Galella—WireImage/Getty Images1994: Tom Hanks - Philadelphia
1995: Tom Hanks - Forrest GumpTime Life Pictures/DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images1996: Nicolas Cage - Leaving Las VegasRon Galella—WireImage/Getty Images1997: Geoffrey Rush - ShineRon Galella—WireImage/Getty Images1999: Roberto Benigni - Life Is BeautifulRon Galella—WireImage/Getty Images2000: Kevin Spacey - American BeautyRon Galella—WireImage/Getty Images2001: Russell Crowe - GladiatorUK Press/Newsmakers/Getty Images2002: Denzel Washington - Training DayFrank Micelotta—ImageDirect/Getty Images2003: Adrien Brody - The PianistJeffrey Mayer—WireImage/Getty Images2004: Sean Penn - Mystic River
2009: Sean Penn - MilkJeff Haynes—AFP/Getty Images2005: Jamie Foxx - RayPeter Kramer—Getty Images2006: Philip Seymour Hoffman - CapoteElisabetta Villa—Getty Images2007: Forest Whitaker - The Last King of ScotlandMason Trullinger—FilmMagic/Getty Images2010: Jeff Bridges - Crazy HeartJemal Countess—Getty Images2011: Colin Firth - The King's SpeechDave Hogan—Getty Images2012: Jean Dujardin - The ArtistFrazer Harrison—Getty Images2014: Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers ClubJason Merritt—Getty Images2015: Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of EverythingValerie Macon—AFP/Getty Images2016: Leonardo DiCaprio - The RevenantC Flanigan—Getty Images2017: Casey Affleck - Manchester by the SeaJason LaVeris—Getty Images2018: Gary Oldman - Darkest HourFrederic J. Brown—AFP/Getty Images2019: Remi Malek - Bohemian RhapsodyEd Herrera—ABC/Getty Images