‘I Saw the TV Glow’: how could the Oscars snub Jane Schoenbrun’s masterpiece?
The Oscar nominations for ‘Best Picture’ have been announced, with Anora, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Perez, I’m Still Here, Nickel Boys, The Substance, and Wicked earning nods for the highly coveted award.
While the inclusion of a horror film in this category and Sean Baker’s first nomination are cause for celebration, a glaring omission has left some fans disappointed: Jane Schoenbrun’s sophomore feature, I Saw the TV Glow. While opinions on what constitutes a ‘snub’ vary, the lack of critical recognition for the film raises important questions about the audiences the Academy considers most significant and the stories it deems most impactful.
Emilia Perez has swept the awards this year despite being one of the worst films I had the displeasure of enduring last year. It follows the life of Emilia Perez, a trans woman who seeks to restart her life by working with a lawyer called Rita. While it is incredibly rare to see characters like Perez on the big screen, the film is hollow and messy, with poorly fleshed-out storylines and a dazzling lack of self-awareness that leads to two-dimensional characters and a distinct lack of substance. It considers itself highly serious but offers no meaningful/nuanced reflections on the topics it concerns itself with, which is why it’s incredibly frustrating to see it being given the highest badge of honour. However, this is most infuriating when comparing it to I Saw the TV Glow, a genuinely ground-breaking film that profoundly resonated with the trans community, articulating a particular aspect of this experience that has never been realised on screen before.
Emilia Perez, it has to be said, is a confused and borderline offensive mess when comparing it to Schoenbrun’s masterpiece, and it doesn’t come close to scratching the surface with its exploration of the trans experience.
I Saw the TV Glow is mesmerising, haunting and urgent in its messaging, exploring the consequences of not being able to live authentically and realise your full potential. The story follows a teenager called Owen, whose grip on reality begins to crack after discovering a TV show called The Pink Opaque, living vicariously through the screen and slowly resigning themselves to an unfulfilled life.
It is a visceral wake-up call for us to wake up to the dangers of conformity and queer assimilation, capturing the nightmarish reality of people who are unable to live as who they truly are. The director blurs the line between horror and ethereality, creating a transcendental yet terrifying viewing experience that reflects the dystopia of living in a self you do not recognise, trapped by the possibility of your own potential and the reality that this self may never be realised.
Owen finds comfort in the utopian world of The Pink Opaque, slowly fading into the background and becoming invisible despite screaming on the inside for something more. You begin to become a ghost of yourself, watching years pass by as you become increasingly distanced from your true self, living in a permanent state of disbelief that your true self may be impossible to reach. Owen begins to observe life as though through a screen, reflecting the trauma and disassociation of surviving through fantasies, only to wake up many years later and realise that you don’t know what you’ve been watching.
I Saw the TV Glow is a beautiful and tragic dream of a film that is equal parts heartbreaking and optimistic. Its powerful message is that there is still time for us to discover ourselves while also highlighting the devastating real-life consequences of hostility toward the trans community.
While there is certainly room for more than one trans story within the ‘Best Picture’ category, the choice to nominate Emilia Perez over I Saw the TV Glow reflects a voting body that is merely playing it safe by selecting a film that lacks nuance and meaning in its exploration of queer identity, with the Academy famously cowering away from challenging and confrontational art that explores anything with a semblance of depth.
Of course, it’s for this reason that many were unsurprised by the Academy’s decision. Nonetheless, it is hard not to feel deeply disappointed and infuriated by their continued inability to recognise films that push the boundaries of the medium, challenge audiences, and expand our understanding of the individuals and stories that most deserve our attention.
