Why Did The Hollywood Reporter Publish a Piece About Red Heads and Oscars?

This has to fall into the category of the dumbest piece ever written. The Hollywood Reporter understandably has to find innovative ways to entertain so as to not bore readers and most of the time they score – but there are those moments that leave us scratching heads.

A recent piece titled ‘Why Oscar Doesn’t Favor Redheads” is an attempt to convince us that red headed actresses have historically been mysteriously overlooked by the Academy. The astounding aspect of the piece is the fact that it is lengthy and empty at the same time. The author draws from interesting references to get his weird point across. From the dawn of time, writers have always preferred to use “the passionate brunette and the sinless blonde” as their heroines which in effect cancels out any hope for the fiery redheads who are apparently too complicated to categorize.

There have been a few “lucky” exceptions, namely Ginger Rogers, Greer Garson, Shirley MacLaine, and Susan Sarandon, but this is absolutely not the norm. I mean check out poor Amy Adams! Despite the fact that she is the actress on every major director’s Rolodex, she hasn’t been able to take home the golden statue. Oh, and there’s Jessica Chastain who again, has her pick of roles, yet has failed to successfully garner the biggest prize of them all. And Emma Stone just might break this bad luck streak if she is given the opportunity after her supposedly amazing performance in Birdman.

The worst part about this piece is not the subject matter but the fact that the author chooses A-list actresses who boast exceptional careers that would make any of their counterparts regardless of their hair color blush with envy. It is hard to believe that THR could publish an article of this caliber just weeks after supplying the platform for Chris Rock’s perfectly shocking offering about Hollywood’s refusal to value and adequately utilize actors of color.

It isn’t a wittily entertaining read but rather a poorly constructed demonstration of what happens when people have too much time on their hands or perhaps when an imagination runs rampant and ends up nowhere relevant. Try again THR!