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Let Barry Jenkins Be Your Gentle Guide To The Oscars

Anne Cohen
February 22, 2019, 3:50 PM
Photo: Joe Maher/FilmMagic/Getty Images.
The lead-up to this year’s Oscars ceremony has been a hot mess. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is in panic mode, throwing pot after pot of spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks in order to get ratings up for the annual broadcast. But rather than a sleek, modern version of a beloved institution, all they’re coming up with is a very messy kitchen with too many cooks who apparently don’t know how to cook spaghetti.
It's sad, because this should be a magical time of year, a moment to stop and celebrate the best that cinema has to offer — or at least, the movies that campaigned really, really well.
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Maybe I’m being too cynical. Which is why I suggest you all head over to 2017 Oscar winner Barry Jenkins’ Twitter feed. Because let me tell you, it is a soothing balm even the most scale-y, rough winter blues.
Don't get me wrong, Jenkins has a lot to be salty about when it comes to Oscars. He was famously robbed of his initial acceptance speech moment for Moonlight, when Warren Beatty called out the wrong name. And though If Beale Street Could Talk was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Regina King is a frontrunner for Best Supporting Actress, it was egregiously left out of the Best Picture and Best Director races. But rather than pulling a Bradley Cooper, this director is committed to spreading positive vibes only. He’s just happy to be making friends!
Check him out here with Marina de Tavira, Rami Malek, Alfonso Cuarón, Spike Lee and Yalitza Aparico.
Jenkins and the Roma crew go way back. During his birthday trip to Mexico City in November, they threw him a massive, impromptu party. (The whole thread is well worth reading.)
And when it comes to his own cast and crew, he is all about spreading the love.
Seriously, talk about celebrating fellow artists!
Obviously, this self-proclaimed Claire Denis stan is an ally to women directors, in a year where the Academy failed to nominate any — again.
Also, he quotes The Favourite!
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Fans, don't you feel left out. He values every single one.
And most importantly, he has excellent taste in prestige television.
Let's hear it for Barry Jenkins, making the most of a dismal awards season! We don't deserve him.

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