Because
A. The same studio that was going to do the campaign for BRIGHTSTAR was doing it for THE YOUNG VICTORIA so they decided to focus on THE YOUNG VICTORIA because it made more $$$$
B. Only one female director can be nominated in a year. They've taken long enough to give a female director a dam award...do you really think the old guard are going to let two be nominated in one year. HA
It's not Kathryn Bigelow's fault this film wasn't nominated. She had nothing to do with it. Of course no one expected Jane to be nominated for best director but lovers of this film DID expect more nominations. O.k. I've not seen the Young Victoria yet so I cannot judge whether it's a better film or not and I don't know if Apparition focused more attention on The Young Victoria either because I did see t.v. ads for both films. Bright Star definitely was promoted well by Campion and made the film fest circuit. My only negative opinions in reference to Bigelow winning this award is I don't feel she's a better director (nowhere near as far as I'm concerned)than Jane Campion and I can name several other female directors who should have won/been nominated long before her but of course, they were all for female oriented films which Bigelow does not make so it's not ironic that Bigelow actually won the award for a male oriented film is it?
Of course the Academy is not going to nominate more than one female director in a year. There's heaps of sexist people (many of these morons make posts on IMDB every day), who still believe women can't direct. Those are the people who are still whinging on this site on a daily basis days after the Oscars are over.
I think she's the saddest girl ever to hold a martini.
Other than being biopics and period pieces, I'm not sure what comparisons can be made of Young Victoria and Bright Star. They are very different films. That said, I enjoyed them both more than I enjoyed The Hurt Locker. And, that said, not having enjoyed The Hurt Locker tremendously, I can at least see its strengths and merits. An argument could be made for its BP win unlike recent films such as Slumdog Millionaire and the nominations of Juno and The Blind Side. Those three movies run the spectrum of mediocrity.
But to "blame" a winning picture/director for another picture/director losing seems a bit puerile unless every winner in every category of every year is to blame for all of the standing losses.
as best director: "An Education" was directed by a woman. I think in other years, it may have been nominated but as you say 2 or 3 women in one field would be thought excessive.
share"2 or 3 women in one field would be thought excessive." Oh lordy, I'm having the vapors. Fetch me my smelling salts.
WTF!?! 2 or 3 women would be though excessive? I am convinced that this world will remain off tilt, repeating and repeating every error of judgement and recreating every fault of society from the beginning of time until we embrace the fact that women are complete human beings and not substandard men that have to be placated, indulged, and/or held down in their "place."
"I'd never ask you to trust me. It's the cry of a guilty soul."
..how many male nominations would it take to be considered excessive?
I think she's the saddest girl ever to hold a martini.
Sorry, I was unclear: when I wrote "2 or 3 women would be considered excessive" I meant that is unfortunately the thinking of the academy at this time. To their minds, one woman in a technical and/or high-prestige field shows the industry's (supposed) diversity and openmindedness. But one or two women is taking it too far - I think they're more comfortable with tokenism. Just my two cents.
shareI'm glad I finally saw The Young Victoria and was slightly surprised that despite the fact it was more popular than Bright Star, it is NOT the superior film. The costumes were indeed stunning...too bad you couldn't see them due to the way the director lit the interior scenes. Also, now that I know Martin Scorsese was one of the producers, I can understand another reason Apparition pushed this film harder than Bright Star. Needless to say, despite the fact I'm a big Campion fan, I would have been the first to admit if The Young Victoria was a superior film to Campion's; however, I was disappointed with The Young Victoria and thought it a slightly above average film while Bright Star is a near perfect film in every way!
Apparently only one period piece a year is allowed to receive the nod from the Oscars and The Young Victoria, for probably too numerous reasons to list here, was decided to be superior, however, it is not!
I think she's the saddest girl ever to hold a martini.