1988 | Cher Wins Best Actress For Moonstruck

whenever is sharing news in 1988 cher won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in moonstruck securing her legacy as one of the greatest pop culture icons of all time but her win wasn't a given in this episode we'll talk a bit about Cher's journey into movie stardom how she overcame preconceived notions and how publicity name recognition and an actor's relationship to the Academy can ultimately be deciding factors in tight races let's take a look at the nominees Meryl Streep in ironweed as the friend and drinking buddy of a washed-up baseball player Sally Kirkland in Anna as a former Czech movie star trying to restart her career in New York Holly Hunter in broadcast news as a badass producer with a skyrocketing career who is reconciling her affection for a dumb anchorman Glenn Close in fatal attraction as an editor whose weekend affair with a married man drives her to extreme measures and share as Loretta castorini an Italian American woman who falls in love with her fiance's brother by 1988 it was clear that the Academy had a certain infatuation for Meryl Streep who was at her peak her nomination for Ironweed was her seventh in ten years and she had already won twice for Kramer vs Kramer and Sophie's Choice as usual Merrill's individual performance in Ironweed was almost universally respected but critics considered the film unremarkable to the point that it undercut the award season viability of her performance nearly every review included some variation of the book was better the film never gained enough serious momentum to help Merrill's campaign for the Oscar or for any award for that matter she received no nominations for this performance other than for the Oscar suggesting that the Academy had already developed its healthy affinity for Meryl and that favoritism may have been enough to get a nomination there were certainly some women in the Oscar conversation who may have paid the price for that favoritism namely comeback performances from silent star Lillian Gish in the whales of August and Faye Dunaway in barfly Barbara Streisand in nuts one of her better dramatic performances and Diane Keaton and fine comedic form in baby boom if Merrill's relationship with the Academy is one extreme then Glenn closest is the other end of that spectrum fatal attraction was her fourth nomination in the 80s and her fourth of now six losses and zero wins this loss in particular causes an uproar because her performance still echoes in pop culture fatal attraction took America by storm it was the second highest grossing film of 1987 and netted six Academy Award nominations it's specific brand of obsessive psychosexual bad [ __ ] thriller subsequently inspired an entire genre Glenn's performance remains cemented in the pop-culture zeitgeist as number seven on afi's list of top 100 movie villains while fatal attraction was hugely popular it was also hugely controversial many feminist writers derided the film as regressive because it presented single career women as hysterical marriage obsessed stalkers Susan Faludi specifically dissected fatal attraction in her book backlash the undeclared war against American women she explained how this backlash shaped Hollywood's portrayal of women in the 80s saying in typical themes women were set against women and women's lives were framed as morality tales in which the good mother wins and the independent woman gets punished the Academy has traditionally shown that it prefers uncontroversial films that for the most part adhere to widely acceptable value systems the feminist conversations bird by the film not to mention it's more grisly plot points have been too shocking and/or too controversial couple that with the Academy's apparent willingness to frequently overlooked Glenn her win was never likely much much less controversial was broadcast news released to the same weekend as moonstruck and ultimately nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture unlike fatal attraction broadcast news placed at its center a woman in love with her job who is at her best and happiest in the chaos of a newsroom in 1987 Holly Hunter was a newcomer that year she burst into film from stage in the Coen brothers raising Arizona and nabbed her first star making role in broadcast news her performance as Jane Craig signaled that the new kid on the block was there to stay drawing from a deeply rich and funny screenplay Holly perfectly balanced each facet of Jane as how Henson wrote in his review in The Washington Post hunters triumph was that she didn't try to round off Jane's rough edges but as a newcomer Holly was at a disadvantage name recognition plays an important role in a group with such established competition but no worries just a few years later Holly took home an Oscar for the piano Sally Kirkland understood the importance of name recognition in the Oscar game and famously fought for her place among the nominees prior to her Academy Award nomination Sally had a couple of small roles in popular films and more prominent roles in indie movies and on TV her performance in Anna was well received but Anna was a small production and its studio couldn't even afford to conduct an Oscar campaign so Sally did it herself executing an incredibly successful grassroots effort that earned her a nomination she mailed personal letters to every Oscar voter pooled money to run her own for your consideration ads posted private screenings for critics called in favors from friends like Andy Warhol and Joan Rivers to talk about her film on their shows she even recruited Shelley Winters to make over a hundred and fifty phone calls on her behalf and it worked she walked away with a Golden Globe an Independent Spirit Award and the LA Critics Circle Award shared with Holly Hunter Sally had to attain the name recognition cher already had just to be included but even Cher's level of Fame doesn't come without its downsides unlike any other nominee that year cher came to the table with two decades worth of preconceived notions about her talent and persona her win is a testament to both how successfully she fought to prove herself as a dramatic actress and how well she adapted within the entertainment industry to secure longevity her trajectory is important to understand because it gives us context to how audiences and more importantly Academy voters perceived her she first became famous as a pop star and one-half of arguably one of the most iconic pop duo's of all time Sonny and Cher together they entered the Billboard Top 100 over ten times in two years with bobs like the beat goes on and I got you babe their success didn't end with music it led to the Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour which remained one of the top three network television shows in the u.s. from 1971 to 74 cher continued to grow in her personal brand as well with number-one singles like Dark Lady and gypsies tramps and thieves and Cher did it dressed like that paired with designer Bob Mackie cher revolutionized the visual component of pop stardom as Michael Kors once said she was the original red carpet renegade Cher put on a show daring to break the rules that brought into the possibilities of fashion for pop stars today by the beginning of the 80s chair new again with an idle longevity that she needed to diversify to state relevant so she moved to New York and more seriously pursued acting opportunities even taking private lessons at the famed Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg Robert Altman cast her in the play come back to the five-and-dime Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean where director Mike Nichols saw her and impressed asked her to be in Silkwood Silkwood was a pivotal moment for Cher's acting career because it was the first time wider audiences saw her in a serious quote legitimate role remember at this point this was how people saw cher strutting down a red carpet and glitter posing and fantastical garb on album covers and dancing to disco on TV weren't things serious actors did and Hollywood isn't exactly a place that lets women be more than one thing if she was going to be successful she had to overcome this stereotype and she did I read when I said looking in the baldies that when he was so quick screen and your name came up on the credits you heard something that greatly displeased you well it wasn't it wasn't the screaming they called and said they're playing the trailer at the new Egyptian in Westwood coming attractions and my sister and my manager and my sister's husband we all ran down there we were really excited and and we went in we sat down and all the names weren't coming out there when my name came up the entire theater started to laugh and it was it shocked me and I remember that my agent told me that when they had a preview in Chicago that in the beginning of the movie when my name came up people started to laugh and at the end of the movie I came out people started to applaud and he said you're just gonna have to wait he's gonna be moving off he's gonna have to be tough and stick this one out her hard work paid off critics though still grappling with her new image were open to her performance take Vincent can bees review in the New York Times quote whether or not cher is a great actress I'm still not sure but when you take away those wild wigs she wears on television and substitute something a little less riveting for her crazy Bob Mackie gowns there's an honest complex screen presence underneath chair won the Golden Globe and received a Vesta Supporting Actress nomination for Silkwood losing to Linda hunt and yellow face for a year of living dangerously a series of well-regarded films followed including 1985's masks for which she won Best Actress at can but was snubbed for an Oscar nomination this brings us to 1987 if the perfect Oscar campaign means keeping an actor top of mind then cher executed the perfect Oscar campaign Sheridan 1987 big that year alone cher starred in three movies suspect The Witches of Eastwick and moonstruck she donned the cover of nearly every magazine from health and fitness to Newsweek she released his self-titled comeback album her first in five years she performed on SNL and an unplanned reunion performance of I got you babe with sunny on Letterman became an instantly iconic late-night moment she was everywhere and nearly all of the news was positive especially regarding moonstruck Janet Maslin of the New York Times wrote moonstruck was further proof cher had evolved into the kind of larger-than-life movie star who's worth watching and everything she does Roger Ebert said she was never funnier or more self-assured Sheila Benson wrote that moonstruck gave cher comedic material to help her reach her potential consistently these critics are pointing out her evolution that she had become something she hadn't been before wasn't lost on anyone Cher's speech also pointed to this and I guess this represents 23 or 24 years of my work she knew she had earned the award not just for her work in moonstruck but also because she had been around worked hard and won the respect of her peers she later said to New York magazine sometimes I feel like an old hooker just because they've stayed alive and stayed around people start to respect them cause Cher's fame placed her front and center everyone witnessed her journey and it was a compelling narrative one that Sally Kirkland and Holly Hunter couldn't drum up and not one that relationships with the Academy could overcome it seems like everyone just got on the same page and knew this was Cher's moment to a certain extent oscars are a popularity contest especially when comparing performances across genres can feel like apples and oranges a lot of people on the internet still debate this Oscar because different performances resonate with different people personally and anyone who knows me knows I come from a place of deep deep reverence for Cher I think Holly Hunter should have won but given the remarkable arc of Cher's career that continues even into her 70s it's right that she reserved her place in Hollywood history for this win never compromising her persona as you can see I did receive my Academy booklet on how to dress like a serious actress just doing good work thank you for watching this video if you liked it please like and subscribe there will be more thank you bye

Channel: Be Kind Rewind

Views: 268,406

Rating: 4.9393849 out of 5

Keywords: cher, moonstruck, cher best actress, cher oscar, oscar, academy awards, meryl streep, silkwood, ironweed, glenn close, fatal attraction, cher interview, sally kirkland, anna, 1988, 1987, Holly hunter, broadcast news, sonny and cher

Id: U1sSiXC_S2c

Length: 14min 20sec (860 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 18 2018