No, this is not going to be a blog entry that makes fun of the addled Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. And, no, I'm not going to lower the boom on those two idiots from Price Waterhouse who spent more time taking selfies than paying attention to handing out the right envelopes.
This is going to be a blog entry about the Academy itself. And something that I learned from a friend.
As you know, "Moonlight" was awarded the Oscar for Best Picture. Indeed, this was a surprise to me. Personally, I loved "La La Land" and was disappointed that they didn't walk away with the big Oscar. Frankly, I saw all the nominated movies this year and, if it were not to be for "La La Land," there were other more deserving winners than "Moonlight." "Hidden Figures?" A better movie. "Manchester By The Sea?" A better movie. "Hacksaw Ridge?" A better movie. Even "Lion" was a better movie.
For me, "Moonlight" was just okay and a bit cliched in its dialogue. But, of course, it clicked off two of the diversity boxes that Hollywood seems to require in every movie or TV show produced in 2017. I sensed that there was a push for this to be named Best Picture several weeks ago when I read an op ed piece in the Los Angeles Times. I did a whole entry about it back on February 16. The op ed article was penned by some film critic/professor/complete asshole named Glenn Lovell. His point was that, with the Academy's push for diversity, he challenged voters to ignore "La La Land" in favor of a movie that would allegedly make a difference in these troubled times. To cap off this jerk's nonsense, he suggested to Academy members that a vote for "La La Land" was essentially a validation of Donald Trump!
Yeah, that's where we are these days, folks.
So, when "Moonlight" ultimately walked away with the biggest award, I thought to myself that perhaps challenges that came from dumb bells like Lovell were adopted by the Academy voting populace.
Or did they?
I am going to be a little mysterious now. I know somebody who is very well versed in the actual mechanics of the Oscar voting process. I will not give a name or a business affiliation so as to protect the identity. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know what this person did till it came up in a casual conversation two days ago.
The topic of the Best Picture Oscar snafu came up and this person chimed in with his knowledge of the way Academy votes are tallied. And then this friend mentioned something that astounded me.
"Just because something or somebody might have the most votes, that doesn't necessarily mean it gets the Oscar."
Huh?
This person elaborated. If you thought that only a few people know the actual results prior to award distribution, you are mistaken.
"The Academy has a panel of five people that essentially validates the voting results."
Is that like a double check on counting?
"Sort of. But they also can change the award winner if they want to."
What???
"They can make the determination that something or somebody else is more deserving."
Seriously??? Has this actually happened?
"Yes."
One big "hmmmmmmm" from yours truly.
Now I'm not saying that the Academy went out of their way to name "Moonlight" Best Picture. But it sure seems like a possibility to me especially after the big push last year to add diverse voters to the Academy. And wouldn't they want to make this bold statement right now to a Donald Trump-run nation?
Whatever the case, if that is indeed a practice that has been used in the past, the Motion Picture Academy are bigger morons than I thought they were.
Dinner last night: Leftover roast beef and vegetables.
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