This year, the Oscars celebrated its 90th anniversary. After almost a century of honouring the most incredible movie moments from the year, many were shocked to hear that with Greta Gerwig's nomination for Best Director (Lady Bird), she became only the fifth woman to ever be nominated in that category. Beyond that, barely any other women have been given the top honors at Hollywood's most elite ceremony. It's disappointing, but has at least ignited an overdue conversation about representation and gender equality in Hollywood. And tonight, Emma Stone was one of the women who held the "Where are the women?" torch.
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While presenting the Best Director category, Stone pointedly introduced the nominees as "four men and Greta Gerwig" which is immediately reminiscent of Natalie Portman's mic drop moment at the Golden Globes.
Immediately, Twitter noticed Stone's deliberate choice to single out the sole female nominee, Gerwig.
THESE FOUR MEN AND GRETA GERWIG HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WHAT A FLEX
— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) March 5, 2018
Four Men and Greta Gerwig is the name of my punk band
— Kate Zasowski (@k8zasowski) March 5, 2018
"These four men and Greta Gerwig." Heh.
— roxane gay (@rgay) March 5, 2018
While it takes courage to stand in front of a room filled with past, current, and future colleagues, most of whom are, indeed, men and not women, many viewers were quick to point out that there were other important minorities included in the nominees. Jordan Peele was nominated for Get Out (he earlier had his own landmark win for Best Screenplay) the and the eventual winner, Guillermo del Toro for Shape of Water, is an immigrant from Mexico. He dedicated his acceptance speech to bettering the conversation around immigrants in the United States.
"these four men and greta gerwig"
— Bim Adewunmi (@bimadew) March 5, 2018
ok but one of the men is jordan peele
I hope Emma Stone realizes that Jordan Peele is also an anomaly in this category. White woman really have no understanding of intersectionality ? #Oscars
— Nakia of Q'Noma Valley (@ThatGirl_Wiggy) March 5, 2018
But either way, the rest of the evening has been a bit sparse when it came to conversation about the changes happening in Hollywood with the #MeToo movement and Time's Up, so it was a welcome surprise to hear Stone's quip.
The conversation has officially started, so let's keep it going. And keep making it better, stronger, and more thought provoking.
"and here are the all male nominees" - natalie portman
— the shape of gio (@herladybird) March 5, 2018
"these four men and greta gerwig" -emma stone pic.twitter.com/8mul8F6uOY
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