Marty Supreme was nominated for 9 awards at the 98th Oscars, including best picture and best actor in a leading role, but despite its commercial success, the film didn’t take home any wins.
Marty Supreme had all the right components for an Oscar win: a strong lead actor performance by Timothée Chalamet; A24 producing, whose movies have historically done well at the Oscars; and fan expectancy to take home awards based on the film’s box office success and social media popularity, as well as nominations in the most prestigious categories.
So what went wrong? Was this an Oscars snub karma for Chalamet’s recent controversy, or simply a result of the film failing to measure up to the competition?
Timothée’s Ballet Controversy and Best Actor
Many social media users have attributed Chalamet’s Oscars loss to the backlash he’s been facing, both within the entertainment industry and from the general public, over comments he made about ballet and opera. In a CNN and Variety Town Hall, Chalamet said, “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera. Or things where you know it’s like, ‘hey, keep this thing alive even though like no one cares about this anymore.’”
The interview was posted on February 24th, but didn’t rapidly spread on social media until early March. While Chalamet appears to be referring to the current booming interest in the film industry compared to more established art forms, his choice of words, specifically saying “no one cares” about ballet and opera, offended many professionals in those and other creative fields, and left a bad taste in the mouths of viewers.
Misty Copeland, the first Black female principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre, who had actually appeared in the marketing campaign for Marty Supreme, told a panel at an Aveeno event, “I think that it’s important that we acknowledge that, yes, this is an art form that’s not ‘popular’ and a part of pop culture as movies are, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have enduring relevance in culture.” Misty and the cast of Sinners also seemed to respond to Chalamet with the performance of the song “I Lied to You,” nominated for best original song at the Oscars ceremony. The performance recreated the “Juke Joint” scene from the film, where, as the character Sammie sings, the juke becomes filled with Black artists from past and present, from rock musicians and hip-hop dancers to traditional African dancers, connecting generations of Black culture through music. Misty, not appearing in the original scene, was an intentional choice to represent not only her role in trailblazing Black ballerinas, but also to counteract the irrelevance of ballet expressed by Chalamet in a room full of the most important people in Hollywood (and Chalamet himself). Copeland wrote in an Instagram post about the powerful performance, “Honored to be part of this year’s Oscars performance of ‘I Lied To You’ from Sinners. Sharing the stage with such incredible artists was a powerful reminder of how deeply music and movement are connected. I had the privilege of wearing the Firebird costume from Dance Theatre of Harlem, designed by Geoffrey Holder, carrying that history with me onto the stage. Grateful to be part of a moment that celebrates the spirit of this film and the depth of Black musical storytelling.”
So was Chalamet’s loss actually due to his comments? It’s important to look at the timeline to assess how much his controversy affected his votes. Voting for the Oscars closed on March 5th, which was right around the time the video clip of Chalamet’s comments started to spread rapidly on social media. Because of this, it’s unlikely that Oscar voters seriously considered his comments when voting. Still, since the video was published in February, it may have circulated within the industry or been seen by voters before taking the internet by storm.
But, honestly, Chalamet’s loss can be most attributed to how powerful and impressive Michael B. Jordan’s performance in Sinners was. Jordan ultimately took home the best actor award over Chalamet, and it’s easy to see why. Jordan masterfully portrayed the contrasting personalities of Smoke and Stack, perfected his Southern dialect, and brought complexity to the characters’ relationships and to the story overall. Jordan’s performance in terms of attention to detail and emotional impact was in a league of its own. In my opinion, Chalamet didn’t really stand a chance against Jordan’s performance in the first place, ballet and opera comments aside.
This Award Season Served Up Fierce Competition
In the other categories Marty Supreme was nominated for, such as best costume design, production design, cinematography, and screenplay, the film simply failed to match up to the competition. Marty Supreme lost costumes and production design to Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein. The 1950s costuming and sets of Marty Supreme were, overall, historically accurate and undoubtedly crafted with a lot of hard work, but ultimately, the sheer scale and striking aesthetic of Frankenstein’s set, and the mesmerizing jewel-toned gowns with nature-themed details of Mia Goth’s character, overshadowed Marty Supreme.
The screenplay and cinematography awards went to Sinners. Coogler’s script, with its exploration of themes of brotherhood, generational trauma, the supernatural, and Southern culture, was simply more inspired and emotionally resonant than Marty Mauser’s selfish pursuit of greatness in ping pong. Coogler’s story was enhanced by the beautiful cinematography of Autumn Durald Arkapaw that brought a stunning Southern Gothic aesthetic to life and masterfully used color to visually represent the two brothers’ dueling personalities– using red for the character of Stack to represent his aggressiveness and underlying darkness, and blue for Smoke to convey his opposing calmness and sadness.
It’s unfortunate that those who worked hard to bring Marty Supreme to life didn’t receive any recognition at the awards ceremony. Still, I think it has less to do with Chalamet’s comments and more with the kinds of films the academy is looking to reward: those that tell stories of life, love, complex familial relationships, and sacrifice, and take creative risks. Marty Supreme simply lacked the depth and connection to viewers that the other major players had, and as a result, left empty-handed.