Oscar member: I vote for 12 years a slave... even though I didn't watch it. Me: YOU HAD ONE JOB!!

[Parasondox]

Good... late evening?

Am I surprised about hearing this? No, not really. But these Oscar members are just taking the piss here;


It's would have been too upsetting to watch? Are you f***ing kidding me?! People would kill for your job to watch any movie for free and get paid doing it and YET you didn't see it but still voted for it? YOU HAD ONE JOB!!! Okay, I would be more reasonable if you said, "I can't vote on it because I haven't seen it". That would have been fine and understandable but not do something as silly as that.

It's like if a higher gaming award group had it's members voting on the best game of the year, then two of those members said "The Last of Us", but didn't even play the damn thing, people would be pissed.

Also another reason why i said I'm not surprised, is because if those two members did that this year, I would assume others have done so in the past.

So what do you think fellow Escapist?

Comment below and thank you for reading.

 

[kilenem]

The Oscars gave Three six mafia's an award for its hard out here for a pimp. Why do we care what these people think? I don't dislike all of Three six mafia's music, Stay fly was one of my favorite songs in high school. I just don't think its that hard out here for a pimp. Its probably harder for the Whore literally and figuratively.

 

[Total LOLige]

Not the best defence I've ever heard but that said the Oscars and award shows in general are a crock of shit.To (possibly incorrectly)quote Eddie Vedder "You can't judge art". Did 12 Years A Slave actually win an Oscar?(Guessing it did or this thread wouldn't be here) The only thing I know about the Oscar results is that Jared Leto won something.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

No matter how great or easy a job is you'll always find someone who is lazy enough to half ass it. That's just the way people are.

 

[dyre]

lol, honestly I'm not upset at all. If anything, it's amusing and I hope more stories like this come out so the general public will finally stop caring about ridiculous awards ceremonies like the Oscars. I used to half-watch it by occasionally flipping to it while also watching other stuff, and I swear half the show is about the actresses' dresses.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

It's an outrage but it doesn't prove anything we didn't already know about the ceremony... it's just for show.

The only thing I know about the Oscar results is that Jared Leto won something.

An Oscar.

 

[Total LOLige]

It's an outrage but it doesn't prove anything we didn't already know about the ceremony... it's just for show.

The only thing I know about the Oscar results is that Jared Leto won something.

An Oscar.

Hahaha you're funny. Someone give this man an Oscar.

 

[Uhura]

Yeah, it's not surprising at all. I'd say that most Oscar voters haven't seen all the movies (or even most movies) that have nominations and I think it's pretty clear that each year there will be good number of people who vote for movies they haven't seen. I mean, does anyone think that all the voters have watched the nominees for best foreign movie, for example? They'll vote anyway, and their votes are based most likely on the reputation of the director/the topic matter/the Oscar campaign of the movie.

And I would recommend people to read a bit about how the Oscar campaigns work. The Oscars are a huge business where certain number of votes are always 'bought' during the lavish pre-Oscar parties and dinners. (Harvey Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein).

EDIT: The dude in the video clip seems really naive. A good number of the people who vote for the Oscars are working actors/directors/special effects people/etc. Their job isn't to wait around for the Oscars all year and watch all the movies that have been nominated in any category. Their job is to act in movies or TV, to direct movies, to create special effects etc. It's inevitable that not all members have time to watch all the nominated movies and it's hardly outrageous or surprising.

 

[OneCatch]

Good... late evening?Also another reason why i said I'm not surprised, is before if those two members did that this year, I would assume others have done so in the past.
So what do you think fellow Escapist?

Thread title made me laugh!

And yeah, apparently it's quite a common thing - I remember reading an article (though I can't find it now) by an anonymous voter explaining why the 'hype train' plays such a large part in the larger film awards.
Apparently it's quite common to not watch various nominated films and 'hedge your bets' by voting for stuff that's in the running anyway, because "well, it must be good because everyone else likes it - I'm sure I'd vote for for it if I did watch it, so there's no need for me to".

 

[Dandark]

It's like if a higher gaming award group had it's members voting on the best game of the year, then two of those members said "The Last of Us", but didn't even play the damn thing, people would be pissed.

It already happens

There have actually been cases of widely known gaming publications like IGN who post reviews where the reviewer openly admits in the article or video that they never actually played the game. They will score it without ever playing the game because they were "too busy" or something.

 

[Eamar]

A good number of the people who vote for the Oscars are working actors/directors/special effects people/etc. Their job isn't to wait around for the Oscars all year and watch all the movies that have been nominated in any category. Their job is to act in movies or TV, to direct movies, to create special effects etc. It's inevitable that not all members have time to watch all the nominated movies and it's hardly outrageous or surprising.

Isn't that part of why they announce the nominees so far in advance though? I mean, I managed to catch up on most of the ones I hadn't already seen without putting in any special effort, and I'm just a casual film fan who goes to the cinema once a week with her friends.

EDIT: Also, judges for book awards manage to read all the nominated works before making a decision, while also having other full-time jobs. That has to be a much bigger time commitment, so I really don't buy that excuse in this case.

OT: It's not surprising, but it's still stupid, and it's a shame. We all know votes are bought, that the Academy is often hopelessly out of touch and that they frequently get it spectacularly wrong, but the Oscars do mean something for people in the film industry. They could at least try to have a little respect for the nominees.

 

[Barbas]

What a shame for the people who worked hard for their Oscars before the point at which that particular awards ceremony descended into the realm of farce.

 

[Uhura]

Isn't that part of why they announce the nominees so far in advance though? I mean, I managed to catch up on most of the ones I hadn't already seen without putting in any special effort, and I'm just a casual film fan who goes to the cinema once a week with her friends.

EDIT: Also, judges for book awards manage to read all the nominated works before making a decision, while also having other full-time jobs. That has to be a much bigger time commitment, so I really don't buy that excuse in this case.

I was talking about all the nominated movies, not just the best picture nominees. According to my calculations there were 42 separate films that received nominations in one or more major categories + 15 short films. The Oscar nominations were announced on January 16 and the voting closed on February 25th, so the voters had a little over a month to watch all the nominated movies they hadn't already seen.

I'm not saying it's a good excuse, I'm just saying that it's not really surprising when it happens. The Academy knows about the issue and their recommendation is that the members don't vote unless they have seen every movie nominated in that category. It's just difficult to make sure that people actually follow the recommendation.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Its a film about slavery, fore gone conclusion it will win.

 

[TheMigrantSoldier]

Its a film about slavery, fore gone conclusion it will win.

Okay, there has been Django Unchained and... what else?

Unless you're counting Roman slave movies like Spartacus and Gladiator.

I'm a little uneducated in critically-acclaimed movies (much less those that have to do with slavery) so enlighten me in that regard.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Its a film about slavery, fore gone conclusion it will win.

Depends if someone made a movie about Nazis.

 

[Nazulu]

The Oscars never meant shit to me, and I don't even care for popular votes because so many people actually admit they didn't even see/play/whatever the other choices and just pick something any way. The only opinion I trust is my own, and I try my best to find all the strengths and judge it fairly, even if I find it crap straight away.

Its a film about slavery, fore gone conclusion it will win.

Okay, there has been Django Unchained and... what else?

Unless you're counting Roman slave movies like Spartacus and Gladiator.

I'm a little uneducated in critically-acclaimed movies (much less those that have to do with slavery) so enlighten me in that regard.

See Amistad. It's the best one I believe, and it has great actors such as Anthony Hopkins and Morgan Freeman doing just that.

 

[Thaluikhain]

This is probably the exact way "Crash" won Best Picture. Because "12 Years A Slave" "deserved" Best Picture, because of the message that slavery is bad. And a movie willing to take such a principled and difficult stand deserves an Oscar. LOL.

Ah, but don't forget, this way the people behind the Oscars can say that they've said slavery is bad. They are totes progressive and stuff.

 

[Story]

I thought it was well known that the academy board often nominates and votes for films they haven't even seen. 12 Years a Slave isn't the first and won't be the last, unless something in the voting structure in the academy changes, which is unlikely to happen.