Great Performances, Forgotten Actresses

What was the real issue in David J. Fox’s article, “Gender Bender: Leading Roles for Women? Yeah, Sure” (Calendar, Oct. 20).

Fox says the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will have a hard time finding five women to nominate come awards time. He lists two possible nominees because they “command automatic attention.”

Isn’t the object to recognize excellence, not star quality? We all know that star quality does count for some nominations--Julia Roberts in “Pretty Women” is a good recent example--but for some people to be wondering how the academy will find five leading actress nominees is an insult to the work many actresses have given this year.

Judy Davis’ exceptionally strong performance as author George Sand in “Impromptu” is an example. If anyone deserves a nomination so far, it is surely Davis. (However, her performance will probably go the way of her earlier “My Brilliant Career” and “High Tide” and not get mentioned.)

Or likewise, what about all the critical acclaim given to Patsy Kensit in “Twenty-One” this past year? Fox’s addition of Isabelle Huppert in Chabrol’s “Madame Bovary” to the list of possible contenders is inspired, but she will probably be forgotten again as she was in 1989’s masterpiece, “Story of Women.”

What insults actresses the most is that by already hyping mainstream movies for the awards, Fox is only reinforcing what the academy has done for years--demeaning women.

We’ve all read about how women can’t open a picture or how women don’t warrant the pay that male stars do. Why not write about the abundance of great performances despite Hollywood’s reluctance to showcase women? (Remember how long it took “Thelma & Louise” to make it to the screen this year?)

Fox’s remark that Jodie Foster competes with herself in “Little Man Tate” and “Silence of the Lambs” shows that it is the person and not the performance that is up for consideration. A similar situation existed in 1985 when Meryl Streep should have been nominated for “Plenty” as well as “Out of Africa.”

I know that the rules for the awards are from the academy, but why not write an article saying how backward it is that there can be only one nomination per person per category? Did Renoir or Cezanne or Picasso paint only one masterpiece each calendar year?

For the record, here are some other possible nominees, along with the few already mentioned, that Fox overlooked:

* Lily Tomlin in “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe.”

* Liza Minnelli in “Stepping Out.”

* Laura Dern in “Rambling Rose.”

* Anjelica Huston in “The Addams Family.”

* Diane Keaton in “Father of the Bride.”

* Beverly D’Angelo in “The Miracle.”

* Kerry Fox in “An Angel at My Table.”

So, along with Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Bette Midler, Glenn Close, Barbra Streisand, Jessica Tandy, Kathy Bates and Annette Bening--who were mentioned by Fox--there are a considerable number of excellent performances ready and willing to get the mass-media viewing that goes with an Academy Award nomination.

That seems like a lot more than five to me.