Star Wars and the Oscars, a History.
Thursday, December 19, 2019 at 6:20PM 
Get away from Natalie Wood, Darth Vader, we're warning you!
Over at Vulture this weekend, yours truly has a piece up about the history of Oscar's affection (and lack thereof) for the Star Wars saga. I'm glad they liked my Diane Keaton / Annie Hall intro (though they added the Woody Allen bits -- I left him out as I didn't want to distract people) because I couldn't get the image of Diane callously "la-di-da"ing while wielding the Death Star out of my head. Anyway, it was great fun to write so I hope you enjoy. It was also a trip to source the FYC ads -- if only more of them were available online. I couldn't find a single FYC ad for The Empire Strikes Back or The Phantom Menace (among other films).
One thing I didn't have space for that I could have written much more on was the individual categories over the years -- isn't it strange that Star Wars (1977) is the only time the series has ever been up for Costume Design?!? -- and the individual presentations. Look how excited Farrah Fawcett was to find out who won Best Editing!
And why did Oscar producers pair her with Marcello Mastroianni for a prize that was clearly going to Star Wars? The mysteries that emerge from history... even history as well documented as pop culture.
Reader Comments (6)
According to Inside Oscars, Farrah Fawcett's agent (she was a huge "get" at the time) would only let her appear if she was paired with someone big enough. His demand? Laurence Olivier. When that turned out to be impossible, he "settled" for Marcello Mastoianni - who was a Best Actor nominee that year for A Special Day.
I don't think it's fair that they made you write about straight people things.
Fawcett and Mastroianni are such an odd but totally ‘70s pair. I actually like those random pairings at the Oscars.
Star Wars also lost best drama to the turning point and Annie hall lost best comedy to the goodbye girl at the globes. I had to look up what the turning point was. I’m surprised they didn’t put Star Wars in comedy.
Fun article, and beautifully written. Congratulations, Nathaniel.
I will always be disappointed The Phantom Menace didn't get a costume design nod. I always think of Amadala's Queen Elizabeth gowns.