Talking Points!
Last month I asked you to vote on the most memorable characters within the ranks of the Best Actress nominees. It wasn't about who gave the best performances but which characters have stuck with you the most. Here are the results -- I assumed you'd like to see.
1991-1996
- *CLARICE STARLING (Jodie Foster) from Silence of the Lambs
- THELMA (Geena Davis) from Thelma & Louise
- LOUISE (Susan Sarandon) from Thelma & Louise
- *ADA MCGRATH (Holly Hunter) from The Piano
- FRANCESCA JOHNSON (Meryl Streep) from The Bridges of Madison County
runners up (in descending order): (four way tie for sixth place!!!) SERA Leaving Las Vegas, TINA TURNER What's Love Got to Do With It, ELINOR DASHWOOD Sense & Sensibility and *SISTER HELEN PREJEAN Dead Man Walking and... coming in tenth *MARGARET SCHLEGEL Howards End
observations: Clarice Starling had the widest margin of victory in any of the polls, a classic character indeed. I was a bit surprised to see Thelma just edge out Louise for #2 given that Sarandon was the "leader" but perhaps people still get the characters mixed up? Thelma, Louise and Ada were pretty evenly matched with Francesca just barely edging out that cluster of women competing for the the 5-Spot. I'm surprised that Margaret Schlegel was as low as she was (I would've voted for her myself) but I have noticed that today's film culture has greatly devalued the Merchant/Ivory filmography. A true shame because nobody does Brit lit adaptations like that historic team.
weakest showing: Rose (Laura Dern) from Rambling Rose, Viv (Miranda Richardson) from Tom & Viv barely made a blip with 1% of the vote each. The surprise there is Rambling Rose since Dern's Oscar breakthrough was quite a memorable girl. But it's true that you never hear people talk about that film these days.
1996-2000
- *MARGE (Frances McDormand) from Fargo
- SARA GOLDFARB (Ellen Burstyn) from Requiem for a Dream
- *ERIN BROCKOVICH (Julia Roberts) from Erin Brockovich
- CAROLYN BURNHAM (Annette Bening) from American Beauty
- ROSE DEWITT BUKATER (Kate Winslet) from Titanic
runners up (in descending order): *BRANDON TEENA Boy's Don't Cry, ELIZABETH Elizabeth, BESS MCNEILL Breaking the Waves, SAMMY PRESCOTT You Can Count of Me and... (tied for 10) *VIOLA Shakespeare in Love and CYNTHIA PURLEY Secrets & Lies
observations: It's telling that the Oscar battles that are still most discussed these days 1998 (Paltrow vs. Blanchett), 1999 (Bening vs. Swank) and 2000 (Burstyn vs. Roberts) are all represented in the top ten and, more provocatively, in all three cases both women won a very similar percentage of the votes with the Oscar loser triumphing every time.
weakest showing: Mary Jo Walker (Janet McTeer) of Tumbleweeds narrowly avoided no votes. That film is little seen today but people were quite happy about her scrappy indie nomination at the time.
2001-2005
- CLEMENTINE (Kate Winslet) from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- SATINE (Nicole Kidman) from Moulin Rouge!
- CATHY WHITAKER (Julianne Moore) from Far From Heaven
- *VIRGINIA WOOLF (Nicole Kidman) from The Hours
- BRIDGET JONES (Renée Zellwegger) from Bridget Jones Diary
runners up (in descending order): ROXIE HART Chicago, *AILEEN WUORNOS Monster, LIZZIE BENNET Pride & Prejudice, VERA DRAKE Vera Drake and *MAGGIE FITZGERALD Million Dollar Baby
observations: A weak showing for the Oscar winners in this time period. Kate's colorful Clementine -- she's just a fucked up girl trying to find a little peace of mind -- was way way out front in this poll and Renée Zellweger's twin characters fought mightily for the 5th spot. Only 9 characters really won substantial amounts of votes with Hilary Swank's Oscar winning Maggie "Mo Cuisla!" a distant 10 spot.
weakest showing: Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) from North Country and Laura Henderson (Judi Dench) from Mrs Henderson Presents received no votes at all. Note that they're both from one of Oscar's most dissappointing Best Actress years (2005) when they seemed to be voting on autopilot and ignoring really fiery work like Joan Allen's in The Upside of Anger.
2006-2010
- MIRANDA PRIESTLEY (Meryl Streep) in The Devil Wears Prada
- *NINA SAYERS (Natalie Portman) in Black Swan
- JUNO (Ellen Page) in Juno
- *EDITH PIAF (Marion Cotillard) in La Vie En Rose
- CLAIREECE "PRECIOUS" JONES (Gabourey Sidibe) in Precious
runners up (in descending order): RAIMUNDA Volver, KYM Rachel Getting Married, JENNY An Education, BECCA Rabbit Hole and (tied for tenth) BARBARA COVETT Notes on a Scandal and CINDY Blue Valentine.
observations: I found that the more recent the poll the more the votes got spread out... time really does cement popular consensus as to who the classic characters are. Miranda Priestely, who should've won Streep her 3rd Oscar, and Nina Sayers who did win Natalie Portman her 1st, were way out front here battling for the #1 spot throughout. Page's Juno put up a surprisingly strong fight but maybe it helps to nail truly memorable dialogue and play a title character and be headlining a big hit, too. It can't hurt.
weakest showing: Sofya Tolstoy (Helen Mirren) in The Last Station narrowly avoided no votes at all.
COMMENTS? THOUGHTS?
If you had to choose between Clarice, Marge, Clementine and Miranda who would get your single vote?