Time To Make History at the Oscars

by Michael Jones · 2010-02-02 14:32:00 UTC
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PreciousOscar nominations were announced this morning, and the stage has been set for March 7 to be a night that makes film history. That is, unless James Cameron and his blue people walk away with every single award.

The biggest potential glass ceiling buster is in the category of Best Director, where not only could the first woman win the award -- Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker -- but the first African American could win the award -- Lee Daniels for Precious.

Daniels, who is also openly gay, said that he was stoked to be nominated. So stoked that he compared himself to a ... stuffed pig?

"I haven’t moved. I’m in bed feeling like a stuffed pig, I’m just so overwhelmed with joy and so full with excitement," Daniels said. "When it’s down to a black person, it’s always a first of something. Like, Jiminy Crickets! How many firsts are there? [But] What it does is it makes me think that it’s not just for little black kids hoping to dream, but for all kids hoping to dream because what happens is they all see that anything is possible — everything is possible."

It's so good to see someone use Jiminy Crickets as an interjection! But beyond that, there's something really empowering about Daniels' statement. What are glass ceilings meant for? They're meant to be broken.

Colin Firth was also nominated for Best Actor for his role as a gay man in Tom Ford's A Single Man. Your full list of Oscar nominees is here.

Photo credit: IMDB

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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