Mikey Madison Winning Best Actress Over Demi Moore Isn't Ageism
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“She was robbed!” seems to have been one of the most popular responses to 25-year-old Mikey Madison ’s first-time Oscar win for Best Actress in Anora at last night’s Academy Awards ceremony. Who was ostensibly robbed? 62-year-old Demi Moore , who’d already racked up four awards for her performance in the body horror movie The Substance , and who—evidently among a significant number of film aficionados—was believed deserving of Hollywood’s most illustrious accolade. A sampling of the thinking among those suggesting a theft:
“Demi Moore made a movie about the horrors of aging in Hollywood—then lost the Oscar to a younger actress. Sometimes the universe commits to the bit.”
“Demi Moore is so method. Lost her category to an actress half her age.”
“Demi Moore losing to Mikey Madison is basically the plot of The Substance.”
For those of you who missed (or avoided) The Substance , the plot involves an aging celebrity (Moore) who injects herself with a mysterious chemical cocktail to become a younger version of herself (Margaret Qualley). That younger self then betrays her—with the inevitable tragic consequences. The movie required Moore to be transformed from the unbelievably youthful person she actually looks like to a monstrous inhuman crone, a transfiguration achieved by hours in a makeup chair and a mountainous array of prosthetics (that eventually explode in a bloody, volcanic mess).
Lots has been said about Moore’s performance, about how the movie’s message dovetails so perfectly with Hollywood’s real deleterious limitations on aging actresses and the suffering that causes, Moore being a prime victim. I wrote in my op-ed about the film last year that ultimately, “I came away from the ridiculously graphic, over-the-top violence thinking that though misogyny is certainly real (if not as gory as portrayed in the movie), women are far more capable, wiser, and stronger than Elizabeth [Moore] and Sue [Qualley], who turn their rage against themselves without reflection.”
I propose that we consider a young woman winning an award for a magnificent performance inclusive rather than exclusive.
The awards Moore has received this year, I believe, were in part a recognition of her suffering (and persistence) throughout her career as well as her performance in The Substance . The movie’s strength was its message about beauty culture; it was less powerful as a vehicle for Moore’s acting chops (whatever you think they are). Her role required the portrayal of a commonly understood trope, that of the discarded aging female star. On the other hand, in Anora , Mikey Madison’s performance required a deep and sensitive understanding of an emotionally damaged and complicated character. And her delivery—a rich mix of tragic hope and desperation unaided (or encumbered) by special effects and a popular, widely supported notion about the diminishment of women—was miraculous. The woman is 25! What a gift, to be able to understand and then portray such emotional turmoil! (Last night, Madison became the 47th actress under 30 to take home an Oscar over the last almost century.)
Back to that award “theft.” Are you familiar with something called Maslow’s hammer? Though you’ve probably never heard of the psychologist Abraham Maslow, I bet you have heard of this, which he wrote in The Psychology of Science : “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
Which makes me think of a good question. “Is this win for a younger woman over Demi Moore and her role in a film about ageist bias the irony some people are saying it is?” For me, the answer is absolutely not. I’m sure you’ve noticed how divisive, how black-and-white our cultural environment seems to be lately—good against evil, right against left, etc. I propose that we consider a young woman winning an award for a magnificent performance inclusive rather than exclusive—meaning it’s not taking something away from Moore, but instead adding a gifted actress to the roster of talented women in her field.
What do I think about applying the notion that whenever an older actress loses to a younger one it’s an example of ageist bias—especially if the younger one deserves the accolade? That’s like hammering home one idea everywhere, no matter whether or not it applies; you wind up with everything looking the same, with no real attention to the quality of the idea (or the performance). Let’s congratulate Madison for her achievement. And work to eliminate the kinds of suffering Moore endured so that Madison’s budding career can blossom without it.
To read more from Valerie Monroe:
Originally Appeared on Allure
