What did you think of Kimmel giving the statuette toJeffrey Tamborright off the top? Was it funny, or did it rob the eventual win of its…you know, moment-ness? To me, it implied the win was a given, and I think that was more true inside the room than on TV, you know? That is, I know some of the nominees were kind of niche, but I felt like there was room for Anthony Anderson or mayyyyyybe Aziz Ansari to sneak in there.
But I guess not, so Tambor’s win felt very nice and deserved, but lacking a surprise factor. Which is too bad, because his lines about hoping he’s the last cis man to ever play a trans woman are timely and well received, and they could have had bigger impact.
You couldn’t missJill Soloway’s message, though, when she won for best direction, because she said it twice.
“Topple the Patriarchy.”
I mean, we live in the future. That was a thing that was said, broadcast across North America/the world, and applauded. I have no doubt there were furious patriarchy-fans on Twitter who were losing their minds. But we get to normalize this language, hear it from a celebrated, intelligent, funny woman (see also, Soloway’s entertaining and amazing TIFF lecture on 'The Female Gaze'), and then see the camera pull out, and there are no riots—just men and women agreeing that it’s an important, achievable goal, and then looking forward to whatever naughty thing Jimmy Kimmel would say next. It’s the future. It’s not perfect, but it’s the beginning.
I did get eyestrain trying to see if the black squiggle on Soloway’s blouse was a word, and if it was, what it said. Didn’t her drama teacher ever tell her people would be distracted if you wore clothing with words on it? Or…have I been living a lie all this time?
