The voting for the Oscars has been nothing if not consistent.
Consistent in ways that prove what the average movie-goer has known for a while now: the Academy loves agenda pushing. When it comes to whatever idea is most left-winged and non-traditional, odds are, the Academy is all over it.
It has left a good percentage of fans to abandon the ceremony all-together, as last year saw its lowest viewing audience since 2009, at 36.6 million, when on average, it rivals the Super Bowl.
To be fair, this is not to say that the Oscars operate under the same code of ethics as an average junior high school where the most popular kids rule without question. That would be the People’s Choice Awards. But over the past few years, too many conservative minded films, actors and actresses have been snubbed.
Pushing a certain agenda doesn’t automatically get you an Oscar bid, but it doesn’t hurt either.
Conservatives around the country were furious when American Sniper was sent home with one Academy Award: Best Sound Editing. The picture received six Oscar nods including Best Picture and Best Actor.
It left fans of American Sniper accusing the Academy of supporting non-conservative values. That idea was rooted when Bradley Cooper, star of American Sniper, was beat out by newcomer Eddie Redmayne for his role as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.
One of the more blatant agenda pushing campaigns happened in 2009. It was a year that fans really had no idea how the vote would go. Brad Pitt starred in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frank Langelia played Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon and Sean Penn entered the race for Best Actor as a dark horse for his role in Milk. All three received high praise for their performances, and it appeared that it would be either Pitt or Langelia.
It was neither.
Sean Penn got the Oscar for his portrayal of Harvey Milk, the nation’s first ever openly-gay man elected to a notable public office. Fans were dumbfounded. It wasn’t because Penn was bad. It seemed as though there were several other worthier choices, but because they didn’t push a left-winged agenda, they were sent by the wayside.
So with the 88th Academy Awards about a month away, most fans will more than likely scratch their heads at the results. The Revenant and The Martian were fan favorites and both push agendas of overcoming incredible odds. Mad Max: Fury Road got the surprise nomination and people shouldn’t be surprised if it wins Best Picture. After all, it has a very strong feminism tone to its story, which is very popular right now.
And when it comes to the Oscars, that’s really all that matters.
