pro tempore

I am no expert when it comes to such things, but I think Mr. Kottke is off-base in his criticism of Tilda Swinton’s Oscar win.  I haven’t seen all the movies of the other nominees, so I can’t say that I’m sure she was the best choice, but his reasons for disapproval seem weak to me.

[some spoilers ahead]

• If he has a problem with the role, why take issue with the actor’s performance?  Aren’t these two separate things?  Swinton had a script and role to work from, and she beautifully and hauntingly acted out what she was given.  She didn’t write the role—she acted in it.  It seems like his beef should be more with the writers/filmmakers.
• Why does her performance have to mean something outside of what it was—the disturbing portrayal of a person losing her morals?  True, there wasn’t any strong female presence to counter Swinton’s weak character, but does there really need to be?  It is realistic that there wouldn’t be many women in the environment they were working in.  And I think Wilkinson’s and Clooney’s characters both provide great foils to hers: all three face tremendous pressure centered around moral dilemmas, and all three handle it differently.  Why should it be a big deal if the one woman of the three does the worst at handling it?
• Because, really, is anyone going to change their mind about the roles of women in the workplace or some kind of shared gender-based moral compass we women have based on this movie?  If viewers are swayed by this portrayal, I think the problem is in them, not in the movie.
• What?  She was “the only character who was insecure, emotional, and tentative”?  I think not.  Maybe it was portrayed differently, but I think there was significant insecurity on the part of Clooney and Wilkinson’s characters, and both were very emotional at times.  She may have been the most nervous, but I think that Swinton did such a great job with that—the sweating, the practice speeches, the ill-fitting clothes—I felt her nervousness acutely.  But I also think she had these strange moments of steely power, like when she orders the hit on Wilkinson’s character.  The way I remember it (and it’s been months since I saw it), is that she goes from uncertain and nervous to suddenly resolute.  This is not to say ordering hits is a good thing, but this was not a weak, oppressed woman.  It was a woman struggling with power and morality, and reaching for more of one while spiraling downward into a lack of the other.
• Even though she was not as developed nearly as much as Swinton’s character, the next biggest role played by a female was the lawsuit complaintant (was her name Anna?  Hannah?) who was heralded as perfect and innocent by Wilkinson’s character.  She was not perfect herself—a bit naive, a bit emotional (though this is quite arguably not a fault), but she was certainly brave and decisive, flying to NY to try to help her family win their case.
• I can understand his concern to an extent.  Historically, there haven’t been many meaningful roles for women in cinema (or not nearly as many as for men, at least), and that systemic problem needed to be dealt with (much as there was a lack of meaningful roles for minorities—and for some minority groups, this is still the case).  But haven’t we made enough headway on this that we can handle a weak (but interesting, with depth) woman without an explanation?  When we insist on making art PC to such an extent, is it still art?
• His assertion (that officially wasn’t an assertion) at the end that it could be said that the filmmakers were making a statement about women’s roles in the workplace is silly.  Were they also making a statement that crazy old men should (or will be) be executed?  That the mentally ill are worthless?  That midwesterners are naive simpletons?  I don’t think so.

Maybe my response to his criticism is so strong because I believe in women enough to think we’re way beyond needing protection from something like this, but in large part, I just thought Swinton’s acting was swell, and I love that she didn’t wear make-up to the Oscars (or so it appeared), and I was glad she won.

I’ll go back to my self-obsessive neurotic introspection now.