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All the times the female director snubs were called out at the Academy Awards

Lulu, Greta, Marielle, Lorene and Melina, we see you.
February 10, 2020 12:05 a.m. EST
February 11, 2020 1:16 p.m. EST
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The Academy Awards continued their #OhSoWhite trend this year and added #OhSoMissingWomen to the Best Director category. While the annual award show has never featured many female directors (Kathryn Bigelow is the only woman to ever win the category), this year’s complete shut out accounted for the biggest snubs.Films by female directors dominated the box office and best of lists by critics in 2019, including The Farewell, Hustlers, and A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood. Even with six Oscar nominations for Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, the writer and director was still absent from this year’s Best Director list. Thankfully, there were many who used their time on stage and even their clothing to protest the snubs.

NATALIE PORTMAN’S CAPED CRUSADE

Before the show began, Oscar winner Natalie Portman made a statement on the red carpet. Portman’s ‘Protest, but make it couture’ moment included a stunning black Dior cape that featured gold embroidery with the names of all the female directors who had been snubbed this year.Little Women’s Greta Gerwig, The Farewell’s Lulu Wang, Hustlers' Lorene Scafaria, A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood’s Marielle Heller, Queen & Slim’s Melina Matsoukas, Honey Boy’s Alma Har’el and Portrait of a Lady On Fire’s Céline Sciamma were all present on Portman’s cape, if not on the Oscar nomination list. The fashion statement arrived two years after Portman blasted the Oscars on live television during the 2018 telecast. The actor was presenting Best Director alongside Ron Howard when she said, “And here are all the male nominees.” It’s 2020 and still, here are all the male nominees.

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JANELLE MONAE’S SOULFUL SHOUT OUT

Janelle Monae’s beautiful opening musical number covered a lot of ground in only three minutes. She paid homage to all the movies that did get nominations, as well as those that were snubbed (shout out to Us). She got petrified actors to sing on live television. She made Tom Hanks even more lovable (who knew that was possible?). And she did it all on Hollywood’s biggest night, while making sure the audience and viewers at home knew they were watching a self-described black queer artist who was happy to celebrate Black History Month and all female directors. We want to be Janelle Monae’s neighbor.

CHRIS ROCK AND STEVE MARTIN’S MISSING VAGINAS

Former Academy Award hosts and pseudo 2020 Academy Award hosts (if you’ve hosted a show before and get 10 minutes in the first hour, you’re kinda the host again) Steve Martin and Chris Rock addressed several issues with the Oscars. They took on the extravagance of celebrating Hollywood’s A-list while the outside of the theatre was surrounded by people experiencing homelessness. They addressed the somehow still ongoing #OscarsSoWhite issue. They also pointed out what was missing from the Best Director category – vaginas.

[video_embed id='-1']RELATED: Steve Martin and Chris Rock open the Oscars[/video_embed]

MARK RUFFALO’S DIRECT DOCUMENTARY DISS

Mark Ruffalo took a cue from Natalie Portman’s appearance at the 2018 Academy Awards while presenting the nominees for Best Feature Length Documentary. The actor was announcing the nominated films when he added, “four of which are directed or co-directed by women.” Sexism make Hulk mad. Same, Hulk. [video_embed id='-1']BEFORE YOU GO: Utkarsh Ambudkar recaps the Oscars so far in rhyme[/video_embed]

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