Im really sorry to break it to you, but Jennifer Lopez, JLo, Jenny from the Block, our queen, is not going to be taking home an Oscar for her role in Hustlers.
Much like fetch, its just not going to happen.
This is no shade on the good lord JLo – the woman is a powerhouse and she deserves every award ever made simply for existing. However, the seemingly constant chatters that her role as stripping matriarch Ramona is Oscar-worthy do not mean she will get it.
Everyone is showering the superstar with praise for the role, shes in tears at the mere mention, were bowing down to her amazing physical transformation (read: 12-pack), and by all accounts she bosses it in that film like no other.
But shes not going to get recognition from the Academy for it – and it sucks.
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Jennifer stars alongside Constance Wu, Keke Palmer and Lili Reinhart as a stripper, based on a true story which follows the group of dancers who resort to robbing their rich clients after falling on hard times following the 2008 financial crisis.
The film has received critical acclaim since it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and triple-threat star Lopez has since been at the centre of awards season buzz, with some critics and fans suggesting she could be in line for her first Academy Award nomination.
Forget about her fiancé Alex Rodriguez and Courtney Love. Actual film critics – people who know their stuff – were saying shes in with a shot.
If she did, it would make her the first US-born Latina nominated for an acting Oscar since Rosie Perez and her role in Fearless 25 years ago. It would be historic in so many more ways if she won.
Sadly, even though were having this chat in 2019, the role of Ramona in a mainstream, commercial film, straddling the line of comedy, isnt the one the head honchos throw the main awards at.
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Team that with Jennifer – a singer, designer, commercial queen – helming the role, and shell be overlooked for someone whos known for their arty portrayals.
So far the buzz for next years awards, arguably the biggest in the calendar, has mentioned Saoirse Ronan for Little Women – directed by awards bait Greta Gerwig – Amy Adams (again someone who has been robbed of a win all these years) for The Woman In The Window, and Lupita Nyongo (who has won before) for her role in Us as leading the chatters.
You could argue, and we will, that Hustlers is more than just a movie about strippers. It looks at gender inequality, it examines capitalism and class warfare. But because its done with strippers at its centre, the stiff upper lips of the Academy wont deign to recognise it on the same wavelength as past winners.
In the past sex workers and strippers have won big – think Charlize Theron in 2003s Monster. But I fear Hustlers isnt going to be seen as prestigious enough to be afforded the same treatment.
People are often lauded for their physical transformations all in the name of art – think Tom Hanks, Christian Bale. Jennifer has put her body on the line in just as hardcore a way, but not in the way the Academy is going to applaud.
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She showed a level of dedication unparalleled by 90% of Hollywood, when she had only six weeks to prepare for her role, ultimately making it look like throwing herself around that pole was something that shed been doing for years.
People have said if there is any justice in the world Jen will get her Oscar.
There is no justice in this world, and there is definitely no justice in Hollywood.
Its an absolute injustice she hasnt been nominated for an acting award of this ilk since 1997s Selena, which nabbed her a Golden Globe nomination.Read More – Source
