You know that scene near the end of Mean Girls when Cady breaks the prom-queen tiara and splits it among the whole dang school? Yeah, Cate Blanchett tried to do that last night at the Critics Choice Awards. Accepting the award for Tár, Blanchett said it was wack of her to be winning. Because Lydia Tár is a real person and Blanchett was only accepting the award on her behalf? No, because she’s old, and also because everyone is a star. “I can’t believe I’m up here. This is ridiculous! I’m so old! Thank you, and thank you to all my fellow nominees. Look, I would love it if we would just change this whole fucking structure,†she said. “It’s like, what is this patriarchal pyramid where someone stands up here?†In a perfect world, Lydia Tár would be standing on a stage with every woman who has ever acted in anything ever. “Why don’t we just say there was a whole raft of female performances that are in concert and in dialogue with one another? And stop the televised horse race of it all?†Blanchett asked. “Can I tell you, every single woman — whether television, film, advertising, tampon commercials, whatever — you’re all out doing amazing work that is inspiring me continually. So thank you. I share this with you all.†Shout-out to all the tampon-commercial girlies; Cate Blanchett sees you.
The Academy Awards were originally dreamed up as a union-busting tactic, after all, so Blanchett’s comments have a historical precedent. We’ll have to wait for the Oscars to see if Blanchett has figuratively made fetch happen and built a coalition of actresses against the petty competition of awards shows. Or maybe people will wear pretty clothes and accept awards — who knows?