TAN Sri Michelle Yeoh has established herself through her many wins this awards season – most recently at the Screen Actors Guild Awards – as the frontrunner for Oscar glory at this weekend’s ceremony.
It could be the first time in the 95 year history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that an Asian woman wins the award for best actress. Halle Berry's 2001 win for 'Monster's Ball' was the last time a non-white actor won the award.
Yeoh recently shared a Vogue article titled ‘It’s Been Over Two Decades Since We’ve Had a Non-White Best Actress Winner. Will That Change in 2023?’ on her Instagram page. She got the attention of netizens before deleting the post.
While most of the article talks about systemic racism in Hollywood – which has been an issue for decades – one of the article’s excerpts targets Australian actress Cate Blanchett, who is nominated for her lead performance in the drama Tár.
“Detractors would say that Blanchett’s is the stronger performance – the acting veteran is, indisputably, incredible as the prolific conductor Lydia Tár – but it should be noted that she already has two Oscars,” says the Vogue article.
The article then says: “Meanwhile, for Yeoh, an Oscar would be life-changing: her name would forever be preceded by the phrase ‘Academy Award winner,’ and it should result in her getting meatier parts, after a decade of being criminally underused in Hollywood.”
Yeoh's post went up hours before Oscar voting closed, who knows if it left a last-minute impression on voters – whether good or ill.
In addition to irking potential voters, the Instagram post might have violated the Academy’s campaign rules, namely rule no. 11, “References to Other Nominees,” Part B reads: “any tactic that singles out ‘the competition’ by name or titles is expressly forbidden.”
The post may have been deleted because it’s a potential violation of the Academy’s campaign rules. In no. 11, “References to Other Nominees,” Part B reads: “any tactic that singles out ‘the competition’ by name or titles is expressly forbidden.”
This new development might add some drama to what is otherwise expected to be a dominant Oscar performance from multidimensional mindbender ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once.’
The Oscars will air on March 13 at 8am. – The Vibes, March 9, 2023
