There’s room for excitement for fashion critics at the Oscars this year. While celebrities at red carpet events are known to catch eyeballs with their dazzling, vibrant gowns, the past few events had been much of a dampener. The awards season kicked off with the Golden Globes in January where celebrities adopted a black dress code in protest against sexual misconduct in Hollywood post the allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein.
The Golden Globes, the first major event after the avalanche of sexual assault allegations against powerful men like Weinstein and many others, sent across a powerful message. The all-black dress code was put forth by Time’s Up—an initiative by top actresses and women in Hollywood to eliminate sexual assault and gender inequality. In solidarity, the recent BAFTA, too, saw only black on the red carpet.
Time’s Up organisers have, however, confirmed that there is no such dress code in place for the Oscars on March 4. Stars are free to wear what they wish. So, expect a show of colour and shimmer at the red carpet. Speaking to media, Time’s Up organisers said that the movement, though launched on the red carpet, was meant to live beyond that.
Even without a dress code in place, it needs to be seen what stars would do to support the movement. There’s no dearth of creative sartorial choices to make a point. Not to forget the specially designed Time’s Up pin stars sported at the Golden Globes and the SAF Awards. At the Grammy’s, most stars wore white roses in support of the Time’s Up movement. The Screen Actors Guild Awards, which had a female-only lineup of presenters, was focused on gender inequality.
At the Oscars, Hollywood’s biggest night, people are eager to see what sort of space would be given to the Time’s Up and MeToo movements. At the Golden Globes, host Seth Meyers, dressed in black, opened the show with a dig at Weinstein: “There is a new era underway…and I can tell because it’s been years since a white man was this nervous in Hollywood.”
Now all eyes on Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel to see what he may or may not say. Though, Kimmel had initially said he had no plans of speaking about Time's Up or MeToo during the show. At an ABC news interview, Kimmel said “It’s an awards show for people who have been dreaming about maybe winning an Oscar for their whole lives. And the last thing I want to do is ruin that for someone who is, you know, nominated for, you know, best leading actress or best supporting or best director or cinematographer, or whatever, by making it unpleasant. I’m not going to stop any bad behaviour with my jokes.” He later retracted, and said MeToo will be a part of the show.
The team behind the Academy Awards have also said that they want to keep the event focused on films and artists being honoured.
Regardless of what Kimmel or the Academy might or might not say, the subject of sexual misconduct and gender inequality is sure going to be a talking point at the event at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. At least, the newly installed statue of Weinstein outside the Dolby Theatre is a sure sign that the shamed producer will loom over the Oscars in more ways than one. Wearing a silk robe, holding his hand above his groin, the statue shows him sitting on the ‘casting couch’.