The Most Education-y Oscars Ever?

Let other folks be all about the SOTU; I want to talk about the educational implications of today's Academy Award nominations. In what may well be an historical first, three out of the 20 acting nominees are nominated for their performances as teachers: Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson and Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett in Notes on a Scandal. I haven't seen Half Nelson--though I want to--but Notes on a Scandal was very good and impressively acted. It's worth noting that none of these actors are playing the sort of teacher/hero/martyr character NYT contributor Tom Moore was all worked up about earlier this week; in fact, none of the characters are admirable, and some might even find them, especially Dench's Barbara Covett, despicable. I'm not sure if this says anything about public perception of teachers today (I kind of doubt it) or simply reflects that fact that deeply flawed characters tend to give actors more opportunities to show off their chops than saintly ones do. While you'd think martyr teacher roles would be Oscar bait, given the Academy's affection for "socially-conscious" movies (cough!-Blood Diamond-cough!), that doesn't seem to be the case. I can't find a recent example of someone being nominated for such a role, and I believe the last person to win an Academy Award for playing a teacher was Maggie Smith in the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie--a complicated character who inspired her students, but with some tragic effects. (I may be missing someone here, though: If I am, please shoot me a note and I'll correct.)

The educational relevance of this year's Oscar noms doesn't end there, however: Will Smith got a nomination for his performance in The Pursuit of Happyness, from which Richard Colvin drew some very interesting observations related to education.

And, lest we forget it's really all about the kids, there's awesomely adorable Abigail Breslin with a supporting actress nomination for Little Miss Sunshine. Indeed, the entire best supporting actress category is pretty kid-centric this year, including Breslin, Blanchett, Adriana Barraza as a nanny/housekeeper in Babel (her storyline includes some moments of not-high-quality childcare), and Rinko Kikuchi, also in Babel, playing a deaf mute teenager (even though Kikuchi herself is 25). The only one I can't make fit into that scheme is Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls, which I guess is sort of appropriate seeing as how her character also winds up getting cut out of the group in the movie.

UPDATE: So it's not really Academy Awards or education related, but I'm pleased to read this story (via Joanne Jacobs) about young girls admiring recent Golden Globe winner (for Ugly Betty) America Ferrera. Ever since I saw Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (ok, make fun of me, yeah), I've believed that, if we lived in a good, righteous, just and proper world, America Ferrera would be oodles, oodles more famous, highly-compensated and adored than, say, Lindsay Lohan or the zillions of other stick-skinny, dippy starlets I keep seeing on the magazine covers in the supermarket chekout line. I was annoyed to learn she was being cast an an "ugly" character in Betty, but the show is proving itself worthy and Ms. Ferrera's getting mad kudos, so maybe the world is good after all.

UPDATE II: Speaking of things that prove the world is good and just (and now totally unrelated to education), yay for Mark Wahlberg getting nominated for his hysterically profane performance in The Departed.