"WELL, THE time has come," declared Barbra Streisand after reading the name of Kathryn Bigelow as Best Director at the 82nd Academy Awards last Sunday evening. Ms. Bigelow thus became the first woman to take that prize. History had been made.
And it couldn't have been more poignant with Ms. Streisand presenting the award. The legendary singer-actress-director had been famously ignored by the Academy for her directorial efforts, first in 1984 for Yentl, which won her that year’s Golden Globe Award for Best Director, and then again in 1992 for The Prince of Tides, which gained seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. So scandalous was the snub that Billy Crystal quipped, in opening the show, “Did (The Prince of Tides) direct itself?”
With Ms. Bigelow's triumph, there's hope that more women directors will now be so honored, not for gender, but for merit. It’s amazing that it took all these years for such maturity to come, and in America, that is.
Yup, the time has come, and it’s looking great.
