From Michael Schulman‘s “How the Oscar Race Got as Messy as Conclave” (The New Yorker, 2.6.25). Subhead: As in the movie, a succession of mini-scandals has threatened to derail one Best Picture contender after another.
“Stop me if you’ve seen this one. A committee of august personages convenes, with much pomp and circumstance, to choose the best of their lot. Time-honored rituals are observed. Fancy outfits are donned. The ogling public is kept at bay. The contenders, some representing progress, others tradition, jockey for supporters, though outright campaigning is frowned upon—and negative campaigning is taboo, although it happens in whispers. Unflattering rumors swirl, and the contestants are made to atone for their past sins. Secret ballots are cast and counted, in an arcane tallying system, and a victor is announced, to great fanfare.
“This is, roughly, the plot of Conclave, in which the College of Cardinals meets at the Vatican, after the death of the Pope, to choose his successor. But it’s also the plot of this year’s Oscar race, in which Conclave is nominated in eight categories, including Best Picture.
“When I first saw it, last fall, the film immediately reminded me of awards season, with its ceremonial customs, its flair, and the pettiness of its esteemed voting body. (For the red robes and skullcaps, sub in the red carpet.) Just as Oscar nominees go on endless press rounds to talk about their artistic process without evincing a hunger for the little gold man, the film’s papal hopefuls profess that their aspirations are spiritual. Still, ‘every cardinal, deep down, has already chosen the name by which he would like his papacy to be known,’ one character says in Conclave — just as every actor has, admittedly or not, delivered an Oscar speech in the shower.
“It wasn’t until the Oscar nominations were announced, two weeks ago, that awards season started to resemble Conclave where it counts: in sheer, soapy drama.
“As in the movie, a succession of mini-scandals has threatened to derail one Best Picture contender after another, amounting to one of the messiest campaign seasons in recent memory. In Conclave, the calculus shifts each time a disgraced cardinal drops out of the running. In the awards race, the question looms: Will any of the nominees make it to the ceremony untainted?”
HE answer: Yes….Anora! Anora is Cardinal Benitez!
