J Lo & Hustlers Director Snubbed Oscars

Photo: Courtesy of STX Films.

You can't have award shows without some surprises, but this year's Oscars snubs feel particularly egregious. No women were nominated for Best Director, despite the overwhelming quantity of films directed by women this year, and the Best Supporting Actress category was one of many all-white nominations. How could the 2020 Oscars have had this much trouble with diversity when people like Lupita Nyong'o and Lulu Wang were right there? But perhaps no snub has angered Twitter more than Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers.

Lopez earned herself a Golden Globe nod for her role as Ramona in the Lorene Scafaria written and directed movie based on the New York Magazine article "The Hustlers at Scores" by Jessica Pressler. Long story short, it tells the tale of a group of strippers who drugged and stole from their rich male clients. But the long story is better, and audiences agreed. Hustlers made more than $150 million worldwide and has an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. It's hard to find an audience member who didn't leave the cinema utterly thrilled.

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Still, Lopez, Scafaria, and star Constance Wu were totally shut out of the nominations, and it's astounding. Even the critics who were so-so on the film admitted that Jennifer Lopez delivered a great performance, which makes the fact that her chances at an Oscar have come and gone even more painful. While J.Lo may be graceful in defeat, Twitter won't let the Hustlers erasure happen quietly.

"i genuinely think not nominating j lo is rooted in racism and sexism about the kinds of performances the oscars deem worthy of praise doNOT @ me," writer Alex Jung tweeted.

i genuinely think not nominating j lo is rooted in racism and sexism about the kinds of performances the oscars deem worthy of praise doNOT @ me
— E. Alex Jung (@e_alexjung) January 13, 2020

"Hustlers was basically Wolf Of Wall Street for women of color and Wolf Of Wall Street got five nominations," writer Phillip Henry wrote. "I wonder what the difference is?"

Hustlers was basically Wolf Of Wall Street for women of color and Wolf Of Wall Street got five nominations. I wonder what the difference is? 🧐
— Phillip Henry (@MajorPhilebrity) January 13, 2020

"Hustlers was the best movie i saw last year and it’s incredible that jlo didn’t get an oscar nom," Atlantic writer Adam Serwer lamented. "'America is a strip club' might have hit too close to home too soon I guess."

Hustlers was the best movie i saw last year and it’s incredible that jlo didn’t get an oscar nom. “America is a strip club” might have hit too close to home too soon I guess
— Adam Serwer🍝 (@AdamSerwer) January 13, 2020

The backlash went on:

jlo could do joker but jaoquin couldn’t do hustlers
— Tyler Coates (@tylercoates) January 13, 2020

THE FAREWELL and HUSTLERS were two truly original, excellent and PROFITABLE films both written and directed by women and their total shut-out is discouraging. #Oscars
— Jenellicle Riley (@jenelleriley) January 13, 2020

Hustlers: An entertaining, genuinely moving, and deceptively thoughtful exploration of sex work, sisterhood, and class featuring a world-class triple threat performance that was shot in 29 days.

The Academy: sad clown man dance#Oscarnoms
— Sage Young (@sageyoungest) January 13, 2020

If the Oscars won't recognize J.Lo's performance, then we will. Personally, I did my duty by renting Hustlers over the weekend — have you?