Whether any of us believes the awards race means anything doesn’t really matter, because awards such as the Oscars do mean something. Tell most people a movie won Best Picture at the Oscars and they will most likely assume that’s a big deal. The fact studios use the number of Oscar nominations a film receives to market its theatrical and home video release means something. The fact you’ll see “From Oscar-nominated director…” and “Starring Academy Award nominee…” on a trailer is because the Oscars “mean” something, and deep down I think a lot of the frustration many of us feel when certain films win or certain films miss out on a nomination is because we know they mean something. And it’s in that frustration that we begin to scoff at their meaning as a form of denial. It’s also why the quote I’m about to show you is so utterly abhorrent.
Sasha Stone, writing at Awards Daily has quoted a source that has apparently heard from Academy members with regard to Boyhood and why they won’t be picking Richard Linklater‘s film for Best Picture.
Several Academy members… said they weren’t voting for Boyhood because “did not speak” to them. What does that mean exactly? It means that they could never imagine living a normal life full of ordinary struggles in finding their way.
Drilling down more deeply into what they meant by “it did not speak to them,” one elderly female Academy member, the same one who reacted violently to The Wolf of Wall Street of Wall Street said she was not voting for Boyhood because, and I quote, “it was about people who were ‘garbage’ and ‘losers’.”
I’m not sure if the Academy member Stone is referring to is Hope Holiday or the screenwriter that lashed out following a screening last season (more on that here), but this person needs to be named, not just left up for debate. I need more, and this “garbage” and “losers” comment needs to be clarified. A follow-up must be asked.
Stone believes this is the mentality of a large group of Academy members and just another reason Birdman has come to be the frontrunner after winning with the Producers Guild, Directors Guild, Actors Guild and several others in recent days including the American Society of Cinematographers just last night. And one other Academy member she spoke with seems to back this up saying, “There is great glee in knocking [Boyhood] down. They don’t want it at the party… they aren’t passionate about Birdman, particularly, but most just want to be on the winning side.”
[amz asin=”B00MEQUNIW” size=”small”]An interesting sentiment, to want to be on the winning side, considering there is zero transparency at the Oscars, which is one of the biggest problems with the Academy Awards. I wonder how embarrassing it might be if they simply had to reveal what percentage of their voting body actually voted and how the votes turned out. Would the Hollywood sign come crashing down if the numbers were revealed? Would the curtain be pulled back to reveal not some magical organization, but some lowly man claiming to be the Oscar wizard?
I dare the person that made not only the “garbage and losers” statement, but also the statement claiming there is “glee” in knocking down Boyhood to step from behind the curtain and reveal yourself. Support your statement, send me an email and let me hear it. However, only do so if you’re willing to have it on the record, the last time someone took me up on this challenge I got the email, but was told I couldn’t report any of it and that isn’t going to fly any longer.
