Vikander Wins, Hegarty Boycotts the Oscars
Alicia Vikander took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “The Danish Girl” at the 88th Academy Awards. This was the first Academy Award for the actress. It was the only winner of four academy nominations for The Danish Girl.
The film was also nominated for Best Actor (Eddie Redmayne), Costume Design (Paco Delgado) and Production Design (Eve Stewart -Production Design; Michael Standish – Set Decoration).
Missing from the Oscars was Antony Hegarty who was nominated for best original song. Hegarty was not among the nominees who were invited to perform. Antony took the lack of an invitation as a snub to both herself and the transgender community.
In a penned an essay for Pitchfork, Hegarty stated, “…the deeper truth of it is impossible to ignore. Like global warming, it is not one isolated event, but a series of events that occur over years to create a system that has sought to undermine me, at first as a feminine child, and later as an androgynous transwoman. It is a system of social oppression and diminished opportunities for transpeople that has been employed by capitalism in the U.S. to crush our dreams and our collective spirit.”
This year’s Academy Awards was full of controversy for being “whitewashed” and having no black nominees. Combined with the snub to Hegarty and the transgender community, it was a recipe for disaster. With the exception of Vikander’s win it was a year in which to forget. Despite all of it’s shortcomings, host Chris rock did his best to make light of the situation and add some humor to the event. Overall it was a lackluster night at the Oscars.
Watch and listen to comments from Alicia Vikander after the Academy Awards below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEbAADv3_c8
