Cate Blanchett Doesn’t Want You to Be Able to Watch Awards Shows

2021 was a weird year. People were trying to reclaim any semblance of normal life while being twelve months into a lockdown. I attended a movie premiere for a friend that involved me putting on a suit and attempting to stream the film from my apartment (the link to the movie ended up being buggy so I didn’t even see it that night). There were rooftop shows and concerts at drive-ins. But, one of the oddest things was the Oscars ceremony which took place in a small room with nominees being cycled in and out.

Part of the fun of the Oscars is that they make the industry feel accessible. We are allowed into a night of glitz and glamour with marvelous celebrities as they pat themselves on the back. But the vibes were different in 2021. While the rest of the country was (mostly) trying to avoid large gatherings, Hollywood folks were getting together for a party (one that Karla Sofia Gascón did not care for). The whole thing felt weird, and instead of feeling included, the audience felt more like street urchins looking through the fogged windows of a fancy restaurant. Were it up to Cate Blanchett, we wouldn’t have even gotten that view.

The Oscar winner recently appeared on the Las Culturistas podcast and lamented lip-readers on TikTok who pore over Oscar clips and attempt to reveal what celebrities are saying. Blanchett’s fix? “Go back to the day when it wasn’t televised,” she explained. “Bring that back and just have a great party where people can just let go.” Look, I do think she’s onto something. Specifically when it comes to avoiding s***ty social media “sleuths.” She also doesn’t deny that there are upsides to the show being what it is.

“I mean, the fashion is great, and all of that stuff. We’ll find out in the end who won or who didn’t win,” Blanchett noted. “But it would be so nice that that happened behind closed doors. Absolutely a very different evening.” The Tár actor pointed out that there are issues with where people can and can’t go in today’s social landscape. “There’s so few spaces that you can go now, where you are private,” she said, which is a fair point. That being said, it does sound like she’s lamenting more of a celebrity issue.

She would go on to note that things used to be different (as is always the case). “That’s what I loved about the late ’80s, going to all of the dance parties in Sydney for Mardi Gras,” she said. “People were just there. They were so present, you know, they were just together, collectively, having a great time. It was non-aggressive. No one was being recorded. No one cared what anyone did.” Cate, I know plenty of people who still go to Mardi Gras without feeling like they’re being watched or recorded, but they also aren’t named Cate Blanchett.

There is likely some dry tongue-in-cheek humor going on here, I get what she’s saying. People should be able to just live, no matter what their celebrity status. The only people whose lives should be continually interrupted are politicians. However, there’s nothing that would scream “Hollywood Elites” like a closed-door party where they give each other awards and “let go.”