Politics and the Oscar Race

The Oscar race is often compared to a political campaign, with studios spending millions of dollars as contenders campaign for months, shaking hands and kissing babies and giving impassioned speeches along the trail. But what happens when a real political campaign—namely, the presidential election—is happening at the same time? How does an election year affect an Oscar season? As the Little Gold Men team discusses on this week’s episode, the two are intertwined in many ways—some obvious, some more surprising.

As the presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump heats up, we’re already seeing its early ripple effects. One of the strangest tie-ins is the fact that several current Oscar contenders are linked to the 2020 film Hillbilly Elegy, which was based on JD Vance’s memoir. Its director, Ron Howard, is back this year with his new film, Eden, which will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival; one of Hillbilly Elegy’s stars, Amy Adams, will also be at TIFF promoting her new movie, Nightbitch. We’re hearing that publicists are grappling with how they’ll handle their talent being asked about their connection to Hillbilly Elegy, which publicists see as an annoying distraction from their talent’s current work. “I would like to think that it’s easy for them to sort of say what they need to say and move on with it, but it’s also a story that, at least until November, will not be going away,” says David Canfield in today’s Little Gold Men episode. When the November election does finally happen, the results could also influence how voters view the contenders for the Oscars in March. In the winter of 2017, Hollywood was still coming to terms with the fact that Trump had been elected. It felt as if Hollywood was trying to make a statement with some of its Oscar choices—such as giving best foreign language film to director Asghar Farhadi, who chose to boycott the awards in protest of the Trump administration’s travel ban. Even the night’s best-picture winner, Moonlight, felt like a statement that marginalized groups would still have a place in an inclusive Hollywood. We’ll have to wait and see how this year’s crop of films might be affected by the presidential election, but many eyes will be on The Apprentice, a film that chronicles Trump’s early years as an aspiring real estate businessman. It’s competing against other films that explore the broken justice system and transgender rights that will feel especially timely at this moment. Listen in to this week’s Little Gold Men episode to hear all about what the team thinks might unfold in these coming months.

How Will the Presidential Election Affect This Year’s Oscar Race?

The outcome of the 2016 election was ever present at the Academy Awards that followed four months later. Could this year be the same?

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