Keeping pace with Hollywoods perpetual awards horserace.
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Among the Academy, it … isnt.
Whenlast weeks Oscar nominationshad been read, the tennis romance received nary a mention.
None of Trent Reznor and Atticus Rosss thumping beats in Best Score.
No Compress/Repress in Best Original Song.
And, of course, after all that, no Best Picture nomination, either.
Among those who dont follow the Oscars professionally, this has caused no small amount of confusion.
How could the Academy overlook a film likeChallengers?
Let me attempt to explain.
Lithe-limbed the tennis stars ofChallengersmight have been, but this was one move they couldnt pull off.
However, the SAG-AFTRA strike upended that plan.
With no Zendaya on hand to offer promotional support, MGM delayedChallengersuntil the following spring.
On the internet,Challengerswas a cultural sensation.
Once fall began, it was time for the pivot.
To be clear,Challengersdid a bit of this campaigning, too.
In November, Zendaya hosted aDune/Challengersdouble feature in Los Angeles.
When it came to Mike Faist and Josh OConnor,Challengerswas a victim of its own success.
The erotic drama debuted at Venice, where star Nicole Kidman took home the Volpi Cup.
It even inspired a similar, if smaller, sexually tinged social-media hubbub.
(A month in, it has grossed roughly half of whatChallengersdid.)
And yetBabygirlblanked all the same.
They will vote for a butt-plugwuxiafight if it climaxes with a family group hug.
They will sit through a gut-churning body-horror set piece if they believe it empowers middle-aged actresses.
They will even tolerate a sex-forward film likeAnoraas long as it happens to have won the Palme dOr.
But a film thats primarily selling eroticism,packed with club beatsand the occasionally homoerotic visual gag?
For an ostensibly liberal body whose tastes run conservative, that may still be too big of a challenge.
