What Scarlett Johansson’s Oscar Nomination could mean for the Hollywood Sex Icon
As awards season quickly approaches, it is only natural to start predicting who and what will bring home the Oscar in February. Even though it is still early and a majority of the films to be nominated haven’t even been released to the public, cinephiles around the globe have already started their prediction lists. One film that is found on a majority of these ballots is “Marriage Story”, which follows a couple going through a divorce. The film is written and directed by Noah Baumbach and stars Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson in the leads. All three are currently predicted to be nominated for the Oscar which would be a repeat for Baumbach and Driver, but would be Johansson’s first nomination. If predictions are true and Johansson does in fact secure this nomination, it would be another step forward in Hollywood’s treatment of women.
Johansson has had an interesting career to say the least. Since her debut in “North”, at age 10, Johansson has been on a steady climb of stardom. She constantly showed the potential of maturing into a stellar actor with films like “The Horse Whisper” and “Ghost World” but her claim to fame was in 2003. Johansson, nineteen at the time, starred in Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation” and “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and both attracted critical and box office success. Johansson found herself nominated for major awards for both pictures and even won the BAFTA for “Lost in Translation”. But unlike today’s young stars, Johansson wasn’t gathering most attention due to her work. Instead of receiving praise for her acting, her physical body was getting all the attention. It wasn’t her talent that appealed her to the mass audience, it was her platinum blonde hair, deep voice, red lips, and curves.
At that very moment, Scarlett Johansson joined a very unique list of women in Hollywood: the sex symbol. Everything that men want and women want to be. Johansson is arguably the most recent sex symbol of this generation in pop culture. On one hand, the status of being the sex symbol is positive as it brings a mass amount of attention including modeling opportunities, exposure at high scale events, and more roles. But once the public puts an actress into the ‘hot leading lady’ box, it is incredibly hard to step out of it, even if you’re incredibly talented.
In Hollywood, women cannot be sexy and complicated. They have to be one or the other. Over the course of history, Hollywood has placed actresses into stereotypes. There’s the leading lady and supporting player, but then there’s the ‘strong’ leading lady and the ‘hot’ leading lady. One gets to be in control of her life and make active decisions, but isn’t ‘hot’ and rarely gets the guy. Whereas the hot leading lady only exists for her male counterpart. She typically isn’t smart, doesn’t make active decisions, and gives up a part of herself to be with the leading man. For men, they get to be angry, sad, and complex while being sexy. Whereas for the women, they can only be one and we have seen that occur in every generation.
One of the most iconic sex icons of popular culture is Marilyn Monroe. Known for her big blonde hair, curves, and flirtatious temperament, Monroe became known as the ‘blonde bombshell’. Throughout her career, Monroe was known for playing the ‘dumb’ or ‘hot’ blonde; the woman who always got in trouble in a scandalous way and needed a man to save her. She was an object of desire on screen and off; people simply couldn’t get enough of her. When people think of Marilyn Monroe, they think of the image. They think of the pictures and scandals that surrounded her. Like her characters on film, Marilyn is an object. Most people aren’t aware that she studied acting at the Actor’s Studio and refused to work for a year because of this typecast. Some people aren’t even aware that she was an actor. For her entire life, Monroe was never appreciated as an actress and was only seen as pretty face and associated with sex. But she was an extraordinary actor who could also sing and dance and had great comedic timing. Throughout her career she gave diverse and fabulous performances in films like “The Misfits”, “Class By Night” and “Some Like it Hot” which is where Monroe earned a Golden Globe nomination. But when most people think of Marilyn Monroe, great actress isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.
Monroe left an everlasting imprint on what a sexy woman is. But in the 1980s, society was changing and had a different definition of beautiful and sexy. Curves and short hair was out and long lines were in. Supermodels like Renee Simpson were popular that depicted this image. Society wanted women to be approachable, but on some level, other worldly: and in cinema, Daryl Hannah was the girl.
Like Monroe, Hannah found herself at the center of the world’s focal point. But she was nothing like Monroe. Instead of a short bob and a perky voice, Hannah had long blonde hair and a much deeper voice. She was athletic, lean, and 5’ 10’’. Hannah was drop dead gorgeous but real enough to imagine her walking around in the real world. She was innocent and native and could easily be the quiet girl at school that doesn’t know how beautiful she is. In fact, she has played multiple ‘dumb’ or ‘innocent but pretty’ roles in the height of her career (“Splash”, “Reckless”, “Roxanne”). Hannah was known for playing the innocent girl next door that wanted more out of her boring life, and typically needed a man to give her this type of excitement.
But like Monroe, Hannah is known for playing this typecast but is actually a well-rounded performer when you look at her entire canon. She can be seen in romantic comedies as well as action, science-fiction, and dramatic films. When one looks at her filmography, you notice her diversity and realize that she is not just a pretty face, but a character actor. Her best work, in my opinion, is in Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bills” as Elle Driver, a psychotic member of the Deadly Vipers. Here, Hannah completely disappears into this role so much that it took me a couple of days to realize that the woman who played Elle Driver also played the innocent mermaid in “Splash”. But the world never realized Hannah’s talent because they were distracted by her beauty. Hannah’s exponential decline of work as she got older only proves it. Once Hannah turned 40, the roles became less and less because she didn’t look like the 20-year-old version of herself. But male sex symbols like Harrison Ford, for example, doesn’t have this same problem.
Which brings us back to Scarlett, the icon of this generation who has even been compared to Marilyn Monroe in the beginning of her career. Like Marilyn, she has blonde hair and deep curves and like Hannah, she’s athletic has a deep voice. Some people might say she’s the perfect combination of the two. After the success of “Lost in Translation” she followed in both Monroe and Hannah’s footsteps and played the hot leading lady (“Match Point”, “He’s Just Not That Into You”, etc). Most of her roles were objects of desire or obstacles for the male lead to overcome. During her press events, reporters wouldn’t ask her about her characters, but about her workout routine, her costume (even what she wears under her costume), and diet. Even when she joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Widow mainly assisted her male costars. The character’s overall story is spliced over the eight movies Black Widow has been in where one has to analyze each film in order to understand that character’s arch.
But Scarlett did take matters into her own hands in order to break free from the stereotype like Marilyn. In her off time from Marvel, she experimented with her craft. She cut off all her hair and forced the world to take her more seriously by making films like “Under the Skin”, “Lucy”, and “Her” which are arguably some of her best work. All three films required a different skill from Johansson and she exceeded all expectations. Johansson proved she could be subtle, seductive, aggressive, badass, vulnerable, and emphatic. All of which is more than a pretty face.
If Scarlett Johansson secures her first nomination for “Marriage Story”, she will be breaking the glass ceiling of what it means to be a leading lady. This nomination will prove that after 92 years, the Academy recognizes that women can be sexy and complicated. It would smudge the line between the ‘leading lady’ and ‘hot leading lady’. After decades of being a working actor, Johansson is finally being seen for her talent and not her body. Which was something her fellow sex icons never got to privilege of. So to secure this nomination at 34, she will officially not be Scarlett Johansson: the sex icon anymore, but Scarlett Johansson: the actor. Which in my opinion, is what she, and every actress in Hollywood, deserves.
