Natalie Portman’s Cryptic Oscars Message – On Her Dior Outfit
Natalie Portman was turning heads last night at the Oscars ceremony for her outfit, but not for the reasons one might think.
Her Dior ensemble did all the talking for her, and here’s what it had to say.
What Portman wore to the Oscars last night
The 38-year-old decided to mix message with fashion at the Academy Awards this year, wearing a custom-made Christian Dior gown.
Embroidered on Portman’s gown were the last names of the seemingly endless list of women directors, not one of whom was nominated for an Oscar this year, including Lorene Scafaria, Hustlers; Lulu Wang, The Farewell; Greta Gerwig, Little Women; Marielle Heller, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood; Melina Matsoukas, Queen & Slim; Alma Har’el, Honey Boy; Céline Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire; and Mati Diop, Atlantics.
It’s not the first time the Black Swan star has used the occasion of the Oscars ceremony to make a statement for female filmmakers. The 2018 Golden Globe Awards chose only male directors for the Best Director category. The Oscar winner made sure to let the Hollywood Foreign Press know of her displeasure. While announcing the Best Director nominees, with filmmaker Ron Howard standing by her side she said, “Here are the all-male nominees.”
The mother of two told the Los Angeles Times of her gown last night, “I wanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work this year in my subtle way.”
Twitter loved Portman’s gesture
Many on Twitter were supportive of her statement. One tweet said, “Natalie Portman wearing the names of women directors who weren’t nominated at this year’s Oscars is too good.”
Another said, “One of my favorite actresses plus she stands by her convictions #NataliePortman So have to respect her latest action. Natalie Portman wears cape with names of women snubbed by Oscars.”
#NataliePortman has the best dress hands down,” a fan gushed. “She embroidered female directors who weren’t nominated. You can’t beat that.”
One of the more surprising snubs
One of the directors honored on Portman’s gown is Little Women‘s Greta Gerwig.
Upon being overlooked in January for a nomination for Best Director, the 36-year-old simply took the high road. Gerwig didn’t tweet or Instagram her disappointment.
Instead, she put aside her own lack of recognition when the Oscar nominations were announced to cheer the film’s having been selected for six other categories: Best Costume Design, for which designer Jacqueline Durran won a statuette last night; Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Original Music Score; Best Supporting Actress for Florence Pugh; Best Actress for Saoirse Ronan; and Best Picture.
“I am brimming with happiness — thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you (that’s six!) to the Academy,” Gerwig wrote in a statement at that time.
The film’s producer, Amy Pascal, told Vanity Fair at the time, “I can say I wish it had been otherwise, but that’s not what she’s saying. [Greta’s] saying, my actors got nominated, they recognized the beautiful screenplay she did … We all followed her. She was in every single part of all of these nominations.”
