Oscars and the Rubric of Intersectionality

Last year, I wrote a post called Oscars in the Age of the Asterisk which suggested that counterfactual narratives surrounding the lack of representation are driving the Oscar race to the point where the results are partially invalidated: If the Academy doesn’t choose the more acceptable choice according to the rubric of intersectionality, they face crushing backlash.

Art is subjective but I personally think that Kodi Schmidt McPhee gives a stunning performance of a whole and full character (yes, he has more screen time than Kostur but he deserves it) whereas Troy Kotsur is merely dazzling audiences because he’s an unexpected raunchy comic relief (similar to Helen Hayes and Melissa McCarthy). And don’t get me started on the blandness of Ariana DeBose who’s the third best Anita I’ve seen do the part.

But how do I know that audiences aren’t swayed into voting for Kotsur and DeBose through the rubric of intersectionality in which voters see the benefit in positive publicity (or simply avoidance of backlash) of awarding a disabled person or a woman who’s spent the last few months talking about how she’s a proud Afro-Latina queer (three boxes, hooray!) and reaping enormous amounts of glowing press just for being born to a certain race. Hitting the press circuit and campaigning is part of the tradition, but rarely have I seen an actor so blatantly advertise that voting for them would be voting for a glass ceiling.

Queer actors have won Oscars (Linda Hunt, Kevin Spacey, Joel Grey, Jodie Foster)…