It’s official. The accidental awarding of Best Picture to La La Land is the ‘biggest mistake in Oscars history’. Headlines stating it to be the worst, the greatest and most embarrassing mistake of all time in the award show’s run abound.
Numerous media outlets have made it official, so we thought we’d take a look at some of the Oscars mistakes that have now missed out on that terrible top spot.
That time they gave an Oscar to Roman Polanski
If you don’t know about Roman Polanski, then boy is it a history. The bit pertinent to the Oscars however is the fact in 1977, Polanski pleaded guilty to raping 13 year old Samantha Geimer. Before being sentenced, he fled the US and never returned. Fast forward to 2003, when the Academy Awards saw fit to nominate and award him with Best Director for The Pianist. He was given a standing ovation by the audience of actors and academy members.
That time they gave an Oscar to Woody Allen
You’d think they would have learned… In 1992, the doctor of Woody Allen’s daughter Dylan reported findings of sexual assault to the police. Allen had been having therapy prior to this about his behaviour towards Dylan. He refused a lie detector and the court judge stated that his relationship with Dylan was ‘grossly inappropriate‘ and she needed protection. No charges were pressed due to Dylan’s fragility, and Allen walked. Since then he’s been nominated 8 times and was awarded Best Director in 2011.
When the Oscars forgot to nominate any actors of colour again
You might expect such a mistake in a more checkered past, but not in 2015 and 2016. The Oscars didn’t nominate a single non-white person in the acting categories. It caused stars like Will Smith and Jada Pinkett to boycott.
Of course it wasn’t the first time, though we hope it’s the last. When you look at the 85 year history, only one person of colour has won Best Actress, and just seven Best actor. In the last ten years no one of Latino, Asian or Native American descent has won an acting Oscar. Oh and only a single woman has ever won Best Director.
That time in 2017 when they ignored the violent histories of their nominees and winners
Mel Gibson sat in the front row last night, his film Hacksaw Ridge nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Film Editing, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. That’s the same Mel Gibson arrested for drunk-driving before embarking on an anti-semitic rant. The same Mel Gibson whose threatening phone calls to the mother of his child were leaked, where he stated “if you get raped by a pack of [N-words] it will be your own fault”.
It’s the same Oscars that awarded the Best Actor to Casey Affleck, who is surrounded by allegations of sexual harassment. Two female colleagues filed lawsuits against him while filming I’m Still Here. Accusations included lewd comments and actions, physical and verbal intimidation and threats. One of the women described her treatment by Affleck as ‘traumatising’ after he snuck into her bedroom and touched her as she slept.
He denied their charges, but then agreed to settle out of court – no details of which have been released. Affleck’s award was ironically bestowed by Brie Larson, advocate of sexual assault survivors. Her face said everything.
Affleck is, like all of us, innocent until proven guilty; but then why did Oscar voters deny Nate Parker, director of Birth of a Nation, a nomination? He was a sure-to-win hopeful, but a past accusation of rape resurfaced mid-season and he was blacklisted. The differences between Parker and Affleck? Parker was found innocent in court and, surprise surprise, Parker is black.
Is Britain Any Better?
London plays host to the BAFTAs each year. Can we say we’re any better for avoiding award season scandals? Well, yes and no. There aren’t as many, but we’re not innocent when it comes to issues of race. In 2016 we had just as much anger (though less coverage) about the lack of nominations for people of colour.
Protests at the Royal Opera House about the ‘BAFTA Blackout’ prompted a response from the BAFTA CEO, stating they would make voters more diverse. No doubt this diversity will take a suspiciously long time to achieve, but for the moment we remain more inclusive than the Oscars.
Regardless, the real trauma of 2017 remains that mistaken Oscars envelope. Who woulda thunk such a thing could happen in this day and age? Guess it goes to show that the Oscars should focus more efforts on admin if they hope to retain their spotless reputation.
The post The Award for Worst Ever Mistake of the Oscars Goes to… An Envelope Mix-Up? Really? appeared first on Felix Magazine.
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