**This piece has been updated**
Every year, there are snubs at the Oscars that make us angry. Bradley Cooper not getting a nomination for directing his first movie was not one of them. With his directorial debut, A Star is Born, Cooper thought that he’d be getting the nod and is “embarrassed” that he didn’t get one for his work.
Here’s the thing: you directed one movie and think you should be nominated for it? The movie is up for Best Picture (a huge accomplishment in and of itself), and both Cooper and Gaga received nominations for their acting, alongside Sam Elliot. But Cooper was focusing his upset on the fact that he felt embarrassed that he didn’t get the Best Director nom.
If we want to talk about snubs we should deeply care about, however, let’s talk about Barry Jenkins. Jenkins should have been nominated for If Beale Street Could Talk over Bradley Cooper at every award show.
While I adore A Star is Born and think Bradley Cooper did an incredible job with his performance and the screenplay, I don’t think his directing was anything exceptional. All five of the directing nominees—Alfonso Cuaron (Roma), Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman), Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite), Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War) and Adam McKay (Vice)—did incredible work this year and even comparing Cooper’s work to Jenkins’ work, it is clear who should have gotten a nomination over the other.
If Beale Street Could Talk is a visually stunning movie with heart and deserved way more attention than it got.
While it was one of my favorite movies of 2018, A Star is Born is shot like a movie I’ve seen before (looking at you Crazy Heart) but is still beautiful in its own way.
My point is this: Bradley Cooper has no reason to feel bad. He does make it clear that the harassment doesn’t stem from the fact that he wasn’t acknowledged, but rather that it made him feel as if he didn’t do his job. And that’s what is nonsense. Do you know how many directors are never recognized? Some even have Best Pictures and they themselves are not nominated.
You did your job, you gave us a beautiful retelling of A Star is Born, and managed to make Jackson’s story tragic. Audiences loved the movie and, at the end of the day, that’s doing your job well.
The full quote from Cooper is as follows:
“I felt embarrassed that I didn’t do my part. Like, ‘Oh gosh, I didn’t do my job,’” Cooper continued. “But the truth is, even if I got the nomination, that should not give me any sense of whether I did my job or not. That’s the trick. The trick is to make something you believe in and you work hard.”
So here’s my message to Bradley Cooper: You did an excellent job with A Star is Born, especially for a first-time director. The message you were sending to audiences moved us; many of us cried through the thing. That was what you aimed to do—to move us—and it worked. And the movie has been nominated, and won, many more accolades than most first-time directors can ever dream of. Your movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards right out of the gate. We promise that everything’s going to be okay.
You told the story in a beautiful new way and you should be proud of that. There’s no need for embarrassment.
(via PageSix, image: Warner Bros.)
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