The actresses started to rebel – Elisabeth Moss flipped the bird at E’s truly awful ‘mani cam’ (which actresses were asked to show off their manicures and rings in, and has now been retired – RIP), Cate Blanchett asked if the full body scan by camera men on the red carpet was ‘done to the men’ and Jennifer Aniston pretended to karate chop a TV presenter who asked her to do the mani cam.
Started by the Representation Project the #askhermore project, which set out to inspire reporters to ask actresses better questions, had people all over the world tweeting about the questions they wanted actresses to be asked instead of, or as well as who their frock was by. The hashtag was trending on Twitter all throughout the Oscar broadcast.
The campaign was started by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, founder and CEO of the Representation Project who told the Hollywood Reporter,
“Imagine a world where celebrities were championing their causes on the red carpet,” said Newsom. “Can you imagine the impact? Their messages would trickle down as inspiration for others to get involved in causes.”
She added, “There’s so much opportunity here for the media to right the wrongs that it has been perpetuating by limiting women to [be defined by] their beauty and sexuality.”
The movement has been taken up with gusto from celebrities including Amy Poehler and her website, Smart Girls at the Party, Lena Dunham, writer Shonda Rhimes and Reese Witherspoon.
Witherspoon, who is nominated for the best actress gong for Wild, posted an image to her Instagram with quotes scrawled across it such as “What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken that you feel has paid off?” and “What accomplishment are you most proud of?”
“It’s meant to inspire reporters to ask creative questions on the red carpet,” Witherspoon wrote about the hashtag. “I love the Oscars AND fashion like many of you – & am excited to share #WhoAmIWearing later tonight. (not yet!!) But I’d also love to answer some of these Qs…”
So how did #askhermore fare on the Oscars red carpet – the biggest, glitziest, fashion-iest Hollywood do of them all?
Well, it was mixed. Because, well, people do care about the fashion at the Oscars. As the Hollywood Reporter pointed out,
“Is it wrong to ask about couture fashion at a red carpet celebrated for its glamour? E!‘s Live From the Red Carpet show last year delivered 3.1 million total viewers. Should such a massive platform be used to promote social issues rather than designers? Would a show such as this one still draw 3.1 million viewers? Without question, it is important to maintain gender equality and avoid treating actresses like mannequins, but does this mean ignoring the style aspect altogether?”
No, because the frocks do matter. But asking her more than her frock matters too (and the mani-cam deserved to die).
Mostly the women walking the red carpet were asked about their dresses, and who they were wearing, however there were glimmers of change – often the women were asked about their dress after getting to talk about something else first.
Ryan Seacrest usually asked the men what they were wearing too, you know for balance. The guys were uniformly good sports about it. For what it’s worth, Benedict Cumberbatch can really pull off a white tuxedo and Eddie Redmayne was as charming as ever.
Seacrest also asked Dakota Johnson what props she kept from 50 Shades of Grey. So there’s that.
Oscar winner Patricia Arquette dismissed the mani-cam as “silly” and instead spoke about her eco project with Ryan Seacrest.
“It’s pretty funny, there’s this silly mani-cam business going on and I was supposed to get a manicure this morning.
“But instead I was working on launching this Chideo site for an experience where you can enter a sweepstakes and go with me on a global mission with one of our projects with GiveLove.org, where we do ecological sanitation work in the neediest communities around the world.”
Jennifer Lopez was asked how she was going to get up the stairs in her dress. However Laura Dern talked about her jewellery but it actually had a compelling story – her ring commemorated the late mother of Cheryl Strayed, who Dern portrayed in Wild.
Julianne Moore got to talk about Alzheimer’s disease – a cause close to her heart after playing a woman suffering early on-set Alzheimer’s in Still Alice.
Naomi Watts refreshingly said how hungry everybody was on Oscars day – the reality of being a Hollywood actress.
Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts was praised on Twitter for asking questions beyond what stars were wearing, including asking Reese Witherspoon about what resonated with her about the role in Wild.
Reese Witherspoon also had this to say on the red carpet about #askhermore campaign: “We’re more than just our dresses”.
Which perfectly summed up the #askhermore campaign, and is the best example of how things are changing. Yes you can care about dresses and also have interesting thoughts, ideas and things to say. Ask about them too. Please.
There’s a way to go, but we have a feeling that we haven’t seen the end of the red carpet revolt yet.
