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Academy Awards Controversies by Karl Cohen
While the Oscar statuette appears to be a man of color, holding a sword, the award itself will probably not be going to anyone of color this year. photo: courtesy the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
MOST ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS
ceremonies run smoothly with the only “serious” issue being: Who was the best or worst dressed actress? Not this year.
George Lucas Slams Oscars as All Political!
Soon after the Oscars were announced, George Lucas was on “This Morning” on CBS, where he dared to discuss the Academy nominating only white actors and to attack how the Oscars were run.
Others wondered why the Academy had snubbed one of the biggest award-winning animated features of 2014.
"It's a political campaign," Lucas said of the nomination process. "It has nothing to do with artistic endeavor at all." The press quickly pointed out that Lucas is not a member of the Academy, specifically because of all the controversy surrounding it.
Lucas called David Oyelowo, who he worked with on "Red Tails" (2012) and who stars in "Selma" (2014), "truly one of the great actors of all time," and "Selma" a "beautiful film."
It turns out the actors in "Selma", about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, were overlooked by the Academy, but the film did receive Best Picture and Best Music nominations. Meanwhile other award groups, including Hollywoods Golden Globes, honored it with various nominations.
The New York Times and other media around the globe immediately took Lucas's criticism of the Academy a lot further and in different directions. The Washington Post ran the headline “Oscars 2015: No nominations for a single actor of color or female director.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, 98% of the producers and screen writers in the Academy are white; 94% of the Academy voters are white; and only 33% of its members are women. The Huffington Post noted that other racial and ethnic groups were also excluded, not just Blacks.
Academy Members Respond to Lucas’s Comments
“I do not agree with George Lucas that the Academy's voting process is entirely political," an Academy member, who wishes to remain anonymous for professional reasons, told me. "I think, more than anything, it is affected by the amount of money thrown into campaigns. Money speaks louder than talent or abilities!"
George Lucas on set a few years ago. photo: courtesy G. Lucas
"It is expensive to run an Oscar campaign, so each studio chooses only one or two films to push.” Indeed, last year's "The Interview"-related hackers revealed that it cost Sony $7 million to run their “American Hustle” Oscar-campaign.
The voting does not reflect the opinions of the people who run the Academy or its committees, rather the opinion of its 6,000 or so voting members, although not all of those members bother to vote, I’m told.
Many voters are past winners or nominees so the votes reflect who they are, and the majority is white and male. The Academy only admits a small number of new members each year so it has an aging population which, presumably, gets more conservative in their choices as they grow older.
"I try to vote according to the standard of which film makes the most advanced contribution in its class to the art of cinema, not necessarily the film that makes the most money, or is the most popular!" I was told by animator and film director Gene Deitch, one of the oldest members of the Academy at 90 and voting since 1961.
"The big box office movies don't need an Oscar, but a brave and innovative movie does," Deitch continued. "I have voted for animation features that by chance made the least money. What I hope for is that if the movie I vote for wins the Oscar, it will greatly improve its chances of being successful at the box office."
"Isn't the Academy set up to encourage quality and advancement in the art of cinema? The Academy Awards should not be popularity contests!"
Boone Isaacs, the Academy’s first Black female, as well as the current, president told the press that the Academy is "committed to seeking out diversity of voice and opinion" and that outreach to women and artists of color has been a focus for the past two years. That is a noble statement about the Academy’s goals, but it may take years to make a real difference.
Although Isaacs’ statement doesn’t really address the issue George Lucas raised, the NAACP has for years presented the Image Awards to honor Black talent in front of and behind the camera. I suspect most Academy members know very little about the people or films that win Image Awards.
There is also an annual Oscar Micheaux Award ceremony, named after the pioneering Black director and producer of over 40 films (1884-1951). In addition to honoring contributions by African-American film people, their program also hosts screenings throughout the year and the country of films by people of African descent.
'The Lego Movie' was 2014's breakout hit due to its excellent voicing, many jokes and surprisingly good story, which made it fun for all ages and earned 95% from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes. photo: courtesy Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
The Lego Movie Controversy
Animation became part of the Oscar controversy discussions as several publications noted the prominent absence of “The Lego Movie”. Jerry Beck, writing for IndieWire said, “The Oscars pulled what was arguably the biggest shocker of this year's nominations, snubbing ‘The Lego Movie’ for Best Animated Feature.”
While Christopher Miller, one of the film’s directors, told the press he was celebrating the film getting a nomination for “Everything Is Awesome” in the Best Original Song category, Phil Lord, its other director, made headline news.
“Lego Movie Director Responds Hilariously to Oscar Snub,” ran The Hollywood Reporter's headline while Time called the director’s response “awesome!”
It turns out Phil Lord had sent out a tweet, “It's okay, made my own!” It included a photo of an Oscar made out of Lego blocks. CNN and lots of other media gave him coverage as his reaction to the snub introduced humor into the “serious” news of the day.
Did Phil Lord actually make an Oscar out of Lego blocks? A few days later he admitted to a reporter that artist Nathan Sawaya made the Lego Oscar and that he found the image on the Internet using Google’s image search. Lord then told the reporter, “But [Sawaya] offered to present it to me, and I’m happy to take it.”
“The Lego Movie” has received award nominations from at least 50 groups that present movie awards. It has already won the top honor in animation from The Producers Guild of America, BAFTA (UK), The Peoples’ Choice Awards, Austin Film Critics Association, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, Central Ohio Film Critics Association, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards, New York Film Critics Circle Awards and over a dozen other groups.
The Oscar snub of “The Lego Movie” probably represents a serious difference of opinion between the popular taste of the general public verses the more sophisticated perspective of members of the Academy some of whom take their role as voters quite seriously.
To some people it is a wonderful film, but others consider it almost unwatchable crap. Some people I know walked out on it or turned off their screeners long before the film ended.
The elimination of “The Lego Movie”, which would have been a front-runner, means that the likely winner of the Oscar for Best Animated Feature will be “How to Train Your Dragon 2” by Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold. Although not a colossal hit like “Frozen” last year, it was the most successful of the animated films at the worldwide box office and it was favorably reviewed.
Before “Toy Story 3” won, the common belief is that sequels don’t win Oscars. If “Dragon 2” doesn’t win (this is being written a weeks before the awards ceremony takes place on Sunday, February 22), “The Boxtrolls” by Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight could win based on its innovative technique.
Isao Takahata's 'Tale of the Princess Kaguya' was called 'a visionary tour de force,' by Variety but will probably not take an Oscar due to the absence of an 'Oscar Campaign'. photo: courtesy I. Takahata
Or “Song of the Sea” by Tomm Moore and Paul Young could win on the charm and beauty of the work (it really is an enchanting film experience) or “Big Hero 6” by Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli might be favored because it is by Disney and the main character is very lovable.
If Isao Takahata's "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" won it would come as a complete surprise as the film has had almost no publicity about it. It usually takes lots of publicity, hype and word of mouth praise to win an Oscar.
If box office is an important measure of a film’s worth, “Dragon 2” grossed $619 million worldwide, while “Big Hero 6” grossed $484 million worldwide and “Lego” took in $461 around the globe. It is strange that “Lego” had the highest domestic gross ($257 million), “Big Hero 6” came in 2nd and “Dragon 2” was 3rd ($177 million).
What Do the Academy Awards Actually Mean Worldwide?
Regardless of which films win, the awards judge only tiny percentage of the films made worldwide in a give year. A friend in Europe just wrote me that ANIMA Brussels just announced they will show 34 new animated features in their 2015 festival. If I’m lucky I’ll get to see one or two of them as few—if any—will ever be imported to this country.
I just read that Spain’s Goya Awards has nominated “Dixie y la Rebelión Zombie,” “La Tropa de Trapo en la Selva del Arcoíris” and “Mortadelo y Filmeon Against Jimmy el Cachondo.” I’ve no idea what the titles are in English and again, since they will probably never be distributed in the US, it is safe to assume that most members of the Academy will never be aware of them, much less see any of them.
The Academy member I spoke to told me voting Academy members probably see around 300 short and feature films a year, while the worldwide film industry might produce some 50,000 films a year. These statistics may be way off, but the point is that most people are only exposed to a small percentage of films made each year, so no festival represents the entire work of the industry, not even the Academy Awards.
There are other issues that can be addressed. I doubt there is a strong consensus on what standards people should use when they vote. And finally, what is it exactly that the Oscars are honoring?
Karl Cohen is an animator, educator and director of the local chapter of the International Animation Society and can be reached .Posted on Feb 06, 2015 - 02:15 AM