“This is a man’s world
But it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing, not one little thing, without a woman or a girl”
Those are the words sung by James Brown in his famed song, It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World. I am glad to report that women are no longer letting themselves be dominated by men, so Brown’s words will now echo true.
The film industry is dominated by men, the biggest names in the industry are mostly all male. However, sometimes XX chromosomes manage to sneak past the sexist predisposition of the industry and make history.
Kathryn Bigelow is a Columbia University graduate with an MFA, a painter, and a history-making filmmaker. She is the only woman to have ever won the Academy Award for Best Director, in 2009, for her film The Hurt Locker. This film also won the Best Picture Award, and five other awards, that same night. I think it’s worth mentioning that this film beat the infamous Avatar, and its director James Cameron, who just so happens to be Bigelow’s ex-husband.
What makes her stand out, in my opinion, is the fact that she makes films that are normally attributed to men; war films. If that doesn’t make her even more awesome, I don’t know what does. In an interview with Michelle P. Perry, in terms of her career, Kathryn said,
“If there’s specific resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can’t change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies. It’s irrelevant who or what directed a movie, the important thing is that you either respond to it or you don’t. There should be more women directing; I think there’s just not the awareness that it’s really possible. It is.”
Besides being the first, and only woman so far, to win the Oscar, she also became the first woman to win the BAFTA Award for Best Director, the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing, Saturn Award for Best Director, and the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Director for The Hurt Locker. These awards are not the only source of admiration she brings to the table. Her level of education also makes her a great role model for any woman. As mentioned previously, she has an MFA from Columbia University and a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. While working on her BFA she was accepted into an Independent Study Program for the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. She also has a few original pieces in the exhibit at some museums throughout the United States of America. It is clear enough that Kathryn knows what she’s doing when it comes to her art.
The Hurt Locker was not the first time her work was honored, in 2013 her film Zero Dark Thirty was nominated for the Academy Awards but did not win. This has not stopped her one bit; she has continued to make films about war and real-life events throughout the years; the most recent one being 2017’s Detroit.
Some people may say that a filmmaker should not be considered a role model in the times we live, that role models should be advocates, freedom fighters, or anyone else doing something important. Kathryn Bigelow is doing something important: she is showing women that they don’t have to remain on the sidelines forever, that they can accomplish anything. Show-business is tough and not everyone makes it, much fewer women, and she is showing everyone that it is possible. She mentioned in the book Media/Impact: An Introduction to Mass Media that, “The journey for women, no matter what venue it is – politics, business, film – it’s, it’s a long journey.” but has mentioned that it is worth it.
It took her many years to get that Oscar, but she won it and it means that the time will come for everyone, you just have to work hard and follow your heart.
Watch the historic Oscars moment here.