Brokeback vs. Crash
I know this is a week late, and a lot of people have already posted about the Brokeback Mountain snub, but like it or not here are my thoughts on the issue (reposted from a reply I wrote in someone else's blog).
I'm personally not too upset that Brokeback Mountain didn't win. I honestly thought Crash was the better movie (I realize this is an opinion not shared by everyone). It's just that for those of us that follow the movie award season, every leading indicator pointed to a Brokeback Mountain win (Golden Globe win, BAFTA win, Director's Guild, Producer's Guild and Writer's Guild wins as well as being named best picture by practically every critics association out there - although the Screen Actor's Guild managed to pick Crash over Brokeback). So I have to wonder why it didn't. Do I think it's homophobia? No - it's probably not the primary reason but it may have played somewhat of a factor. Academy voter Ernest Borgnine for example has admitted that he refuses to see the movie based on its subject matter. However votes like his were probably balanced out by people like Emma Thompson who has also hinted that she never saw the film but voted for Ang Lee as best director and presumably for Brokeback as well based on the fact that she admires his body of work (one thing to note is that Lee directed her in Sense & Sensibility). Another theory is that since most of the voters live in L.A. where Crash takes place, the movie struck a chord with a lot of the voters. However, I honestly think it's the inevitable backlash that can happen to a movie that's been heaped with accolades. Remember when Shakespeare in Love beat out the heavy favorite Saving Private Ryan? Saving Private Ryan had also racked up the awards prior to the Oscars; and even though Steven Spielberg won the oscar for best director for that film, his movie still managed to lose out. Basically I think the Academy voters were sick of seeing Brokeback win everything so they voted for something else. That's the real snub.