A washed-up actor looking for a comeback on the stage. A civil rights pioneer. A scientific genius with a deteriorating body. A math genius with a sexuality he must keep secret. A young boy growing up in small town Texas.
These are the subjects of Birdman, Selma, The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game, and Boyhood, all nominated this morning for best picture of the year Academy Awards and—like fellow nominees American Sniper, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Whiplash—all movies about male protagonists. Look at the list of the movies with the most nominations, and you can throw in two more male-focused movies to the list of most-heralded films of the year: Interstellar and Foxcatcher.
No women, as per the usual, were nominated for best director. No women were nominated for best adapted or original screenplay.
One could argue that this isn't so much the fault of the academy, as it is the fault of Hollywood, which has actually become less balanced among the genders over the last several years. It is, though, egregious that the academy left out the critically acclaimed Wild, a stunning film with a complex female protagonist, and Ava DuVernay, whose Selma was honored as one of the best pictures of the year—but who, as its director, was shut out.
Quick reminder that it's 2015, well into the 21st century. Isn't it time the entertainment industry started welcoming and honoring that little group known as women?