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Pajiba 10 For Your Consideration: Ava DuVernay

By Kate Hudson | Pajiba 10 | June 26, 2019 |

By Kate Hudson | Pajiba 10 | June 26, 2019 |

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(Publisher’s Note: Voting on the 13th Annual Pajiba 10 will kick off next week. Ahead of the voting, various staff members will offer our personal favorites, for your consideration.)

Friends, I spent a lot of time considering who I would champion as my inaugural Pajiba 10 pick because this is obviously very important, and it was a tough list to pick from. I waffled between Billie Lourd (specifically in Book Smart), Richard Armitage, Cameron Poe (uh, duh, he saved the mother f*cking day), but one person, above all else, thrills me whenever I see their gorgeous, Old Hollywood-esque face. Furthermore, every time I see them pop up on Twitter, I’m like “damn! There is one goooooood looking lady!” I am, of course talking about the beautiful, brilliant, smart, and very, very, very attractive Ava DuVernay.

…I mean, damn, right?!

Sorry, one more before we get to the reasons why she’s my nominee, although do you really need words to describe why, after those pictures?!

via GIPHY

It is truly a testament to how brilliant this woman is, that every single article about her doesn’t start with “Ava DuVernay is extremely attractive and looks like she belongs in a 1940’s noir film, smoking a cigarette and tormenting Fred MacMurray.” No, friends, instead they talk about how good her movies (and show) are, and the important social impact she, and her work, have. Ava is the best, and yet? We never talk about what a stone cold foxy lady she is, because she is that talented. Hot.

…but let’s not mince words here, she is absolutely gorgeous, too. “Old Hollywood” pretty, to the point that half the time I hear her name, I expect her to photographed, George Hurrell style, in a bias cut gown, staring off into the middle distance, lit to perfection. It is known that “Old Hollywood” pretty is by far the best type of pretty to be. Ava has that, and then some.

via GIPHY

Now, here’s another rad thing about her: not only is she very, very attractive; the movies she makes are not only great, but matter, too. We’re not talking about Uwe Boll s*it here, friends. No. We’re talking about Selma, A Wrinkle in Time, The 13th, When They See Us, and more.

This scene in A Wrinkle in Time makes me cry every time. She masterfully captures the angst and pain of being a young girl on the cusp of becoming a woman, and the armor it takes to get there. In one beautiful moment, she conveys what happens when you’re allowed to be a little girl, and the armor falls away. Finally, Meg can be vulnerable without being afraid of getting hurt. It’s perfect, and strikes a deep chord with me.

Let’s also not forget this scene in Selma, either. She captures the tension and humanity on the Edmund Pettus Bridge that day, the outcome never a guarantee that the right thing would happen.

Ava doesn’t make movies that are a surefire way to make a buck. She picks projects that have a message and say something. Her Netflix series When They See Us is primarily responsible for Linda Fairstein, the prosecutor who played a crucial role in the unlawful imprisonment and sandbagging of the Central Park 5, losing her lucrative board positions, among other things.

The point is, when you go with Ava, you get brains and beauty. How often does that combo come along?!

Exactly.

So vote for Ava Duvernay, or not, because, well, I’ll let her have the last word:

via GIPHY