Trans Peeps Rocked The 2018 Oscars

Despite being in a moment in this country in which the humanity and human rights of trans people are under attack by the Trump Misadministration and their white fundie allies, the opposite is happening in Hollywood as trans people become a more visible and active part of the motion picture industry

Trans excellence was on display during last night's Oscars, with Janet Mock and actress Daniela Vega rocking the Oscar red carpets to kick the night off and us waiting to see in trans director Yance Ford's name would be called to collect his first Oscar.

Vega would also make history as the first ever openly trans presenter during the Oscars main ceremony.  She introduced Sufjan Stevens, whose song 'Mystery of Love' for the Call Me By Your Name soundtrack was nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar.

She would later in the evening join her castmates on stage as the movie she was the lead actress in, A Fantastic Woman, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film.

That made her the first openly trans actress to play a trans character in an Oscar winning film.



So yeah Hollywood, your not so subtle hint to not only hire trans actors and actresses for trans roles, but consider letting them have an opportunity to play cisgender characters as well

Attention then turned on this night to trans masculine director Yance Ford to see if he would make more trans Oscar history on a night that was turning into an amazing one for transkind. .

He had already made Oscar history back in January when he became the first openly  transgender director to be nominated for an Oscar.

Ford already had four previous documentaries under his belt, but his fifth one Strong Island, was up for the Best Documentary nomination



Unfortunately it was not to be his night, as the documentary Icarus got the Oscar in Ford's category..

I have no doubt we will see this gifted filmmaker again on a Oscar stage, and hopefully it will be to make an acceptance speech as he gets to hold that stateutee in his hands

But it sure would have been nice to see #BlackTransExcellence rewarded last night

Congrats to Daniela and Yance for making history and repping our community well.  It was also nice to see my sis Janet ripping the red carpet to shreds.

Will be interesting to see what transpires at next year's Oscars.

Daniela Vega To Be A 2018 Oscar Awards Presenter

The Oscars happen on March 4 in Hollywood, and the initial group of people tapped to be awards presenters has been announced.  For the first time, one of the twelve instage presenters for this year's 90th edition of the Academy Awards will be an out trans person.

Rge person given the honor of repping the trans community on that Oscar stage will be Chilean actress Daniela Vega.

The 28 year old Vega is the star of the Oscar nominated film A Fantastic Woman in which she plays Marina Vidal, the trans protagonist in this Sebastian Lelio movie.   She loses her life partner Orlando, ,and her trans status makes it difficult for her to mourn Orlando's death.

Hmm, another movie I'll have to check out.

 

A Fantastic Woman was nominated in the Best Foreign Language film category, and after getting award nominations and international acclaim for the role of Marina, there was buzz building that she could possibly be the person that finally made Academy Awards history and become the first out trans person ever nominated for an Oscar. 

While that Best Actress nomination unfortunately didn't happen for Vega this time, she did get the consolation prize of being the first out trans person ever to be named as an Oscar presenter.

Congrats Daniela for making that history, and hopefully one day you'll be back on that Oscar stage to actually claim an Oscar of your own.

Glad I Wasn't Watching The Oscars Last Night

The 83rd Oscar ceremony was televised last night.   I kept myself busy with other productive uses of my time besides watching that melanin free awards telecast.

After talking to Renee of Womanist Musings last night, glad I did. 

Seriously, a tribute to Gone With The Wind on a night in which African Americans were already pissed about having no Black actors, actresses or even behind the camera personnel nominated for Oscars?

Then you add insult to injury with a half azzed tribute to Lena Horne, one of our beloved performers and civil rights icons?
 

No wonder there's such crappy movie selections at the local multiplex these days.

And I'd love to see a Black themed movie that didn't involve 21st century coonery on the screen.   Spike?  John Singleton?  Hudlin brothers?  Robert Townsend? 

Just hope Oscars 2012 is kinder to actors of color in Hollywood.     But then again I won't be holding my breath on that one.
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Oscar Blackout

Mo'nique won the Oscar last year for Best Supporting Actress, but when the Oscars kick off next month the list of nominees will look like a Republican Party convention.

One year after an Oscars ceremony that saw Mo'nique's win for her role in Precious and other African-American such as Geoffrey Fletcher, Roger Ross Williams,  Morgan Freeman, Lee Daniels, Gabourey Sidibe and Broderick Johnson either win Oscars or were nominees,  there's an Oscars blackout this year.

Roger Ross Williams became the first African-American to win in the Best Documentary Short Subject category and Geoffrey Fletcher did the same with his win in the Best Writing (adapted screenplay) category.

There were a lot of folks that hated on For Colored Girls including movie critics, but I'm still surprised that Anika Noni Rose, Thandie Newton, or Kimberly Elise didn't even get a bone thrown at them for their performances in the movie.

So when Oscar night happens this year, the only African-Americans that will walking up to the podium this year will do so as presenters.
 

'Precious' Gets Six Oscar Nominations

One of the things I love to do I go to my local multiplex and watch my fave movies when they come out. The last one I've had a chance to see was the Lee Daniels directed film 'Precious' and it's making some movie and Black history of its own.

'Precious' was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Lee Daniels became only the second African-American director to garner a Best Director nod (John Singleton was the last for 1991's 'Boyz In The Hood'). 'Precious' also holds the distinction of being the first African-American directed film in the 82 year history of the Oscars to be nominated for Best Picture.

"After 82 years, it's the first film nominated for best picture directed by an African-American," Daniels said. "Isn't that great? It's so exciting."

Lee Daniels wasn't the only one getting Oscar kudos. The movie was based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire, and also earned a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination.

Gabourey Sidibe earned a Best Actress nomination in her debut film, and Mo'Nique is up for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 'Precious' as well.

In addition to 'Precious' six nominations, Morgan Freeman received a Best Actor nomination for playing Nelson Mandela in 'Invictus', and Disney received a Best Animated Feature nomination for 'The Princess And the Frog'

Hmm. Looks like I'll have multiple reasons to watch the Oscars March 7 telecast this year.