Ever since the nominations for the 98th Academy Awards were announced in January, there has been online chatter criticizing Kate Hudson’s nomination for Song Sung Blue, which you can see with a Peacock subscription. Much of that has centered around Chase Infiniti getting “snubbed” for her performance in One Battle After Another in favor of Hudson. I totally get that sentiment, but I don’t like the term “snub,” and I am here to defend the Academy’s nomination of Hudson.
First, Let’s Stop Saying 'Snub'
Ok, so I’m just as guilty of this as anyone, but using “snub” diminishes the nominees who were rewarded. Heck, I just used the term recently when discussing a documentary that I was shocked wasn’t nominated for an Oscar. However, the backside of that same term, generally used to praise a person or movie that wasn’t nominated, implies that another nominee isn’t deserving. That’s very rarely the case, in my opinion.
So while Chase Infiniti is wonderful in One Battle, it’s not fair to Hudson, who is generally perceived to be the actor who “took the place” of a potential nomination for Infiniti. Both performances are fantastic, even when the movies couldn’t be any more different. I suppose that highlights the inherent weirdness of rewarding art with trophies, but that’s a whole other topic that I’m not going to get into here. Mostly, I just want to talk about Hudson’s nomination-worthy performance and why I’m thrilled she’s been recognized.
Hudson Completely Nailed The Role Of Thunder
I’ll admit I wasn’t all that excited about seeing Song Sung Blue when it hit theaters late last year. I’m not a huge Neil Diamond fan, and while the movie was about a tribute act called Lightning (Hugh Jackman) and Thunder (Hudson), not Diamond himself, I knew there would be a lot of his music in the movie. I don’t need to espouse my consternation with “Sweet Caroline” again. The movie surprised me, and I loved it.
I especially thought Hudson was fantastic in it. I even went back and watched the documentary the film was based on, and I walked away from that even more impressed with Hudson’s performance as a Wisconsin girl made good against tremendous odds. She is funny when she needs to be, and she is powerful when tragedy strikes. It’s a completely well-rounded performance that hits all the right notes (pun intended), and her chemistry with Jackman is magnetic. It’s everything a great acting performance can be, and it’s a shame so many people want to dismiss it.
To be sure, I think, as this award season has shown, the Best Actress category seems to be a one-woman race. Jessie Buckley has been cleaning up for her incredible turn in Hamnet, and I do expect her to take home the Oscar next month. That said, if Hudson were to pull off the upset, after all the great performances she’s given over the years, and especially here in Song Sung Blue, I will be the first one to jump off my couch and applaud.
