Hollywood stage set for Oscars to mark year eclipsed by #MeToo
With the Harvey Weinstein allegations, other sexual misconduct claims and gender inequality hogging the spotlight, this year’s Academy Awards will see plenty of political statements and a chance to support female filmmakers
Hollywood’s awards season reaches its glittering climax on Sunday at the Oscars, with fairy tale romance The Shape of Water and dark crime comedy Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri neck-and-neck in the race for the major statuettes.
The ceremony caps a difficult few months during which the industry has declared war on the pervasive culture of sexual misconduct brought to light by the downfall of movie mogul and alleged serial sex attacker Harvey Weinstein.
Where to watch this year’s Oscar-nominated films in Hong Kong before the Academy Awards
Peter Debruge, the chief film critic for Hollywood trade publication Variety, says he expects this year’s celebrations would place front and centre an issue acknowledged for a long time as an “open secret” – but never before handled.
“This year, now that the case has blown open, it’s a totally different situation,” he said of the Weinstein scandal, ahead of Sunday’s gala.
“I think we can expect jokes, we can expect political statements, we can expect any of the women who win to take that opportunity to kind of speak their minds.”
