I scavenged Twitter to find the most highly disputed Oscar awards and investigated both arguments as to why some nominees might’ve been snubbed or correctly lost.
Best Actor:
Winner: Brenden Fraser
Possible snub: Austin Butler
The argument for Butler:
Butler, previously known for his television roles, almost won an Oscar for his first leading role as Elvis. Everything was there for him to win. Like other Oscar winners before him, Butler method acted his role. He was so dedicated, he didn’t see his family for three years. He’s so Elvis that he speaks permanently like Elvis. Fans raved over Butler’s singing, dancing and shaking all about like he was possessed by a rockstar ghost. Alongside the recent passing of Lisa Marie Presely, it seemed everything was set up for Butler to win Best Actor and kick off his career with an Oscar at just 31.
The argument for Fraser:
Fraser had a historic run in the nineties in movies such as the “The Mummy” and “George of the Jungle.” Then Fraser says back in 2003, he was sexually assaulted by Philip Berk, the former President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. That caused him to fall into a deep depression and Fraser believes it became the reason why he stopped receiving roles. Finally, after making it to the other side of his personal issues, he ended up an Oscar winner. Fraser’s story is a compelling one and this year the academy rewarded all types of redemption stories. Hollywood veterans like Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan all ended up winning. So it made sense for Fraser to also complete his comeback.
Best Supporting Actress:
Winner: Jamie Lee Curtis
Possible snub: Angela Bassett
The argument for Bassett:
When they announced Jamie Lee Curtis’ name for the Oscar, Angela Bassett sat in her seat with a stone cold face. She didn’t clap. She didn’t even move. The actress who played in movies such as “What’s Love Got to Do with it,” and “Malcolm X,” had lost an Oscar for the second time in her career. Fans had a much more explosive reaction, claiming that Bassett was robbed of an overdue Oscar. If you compare each actress’ major awards for their roles, Angela Bassett’s wins at the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Movie Awards outnumber Curtis’ win at the Screen Actors Guild. It just seems like they gave the award to Curtis as more of a lifetime achievement, even though Bassett has put in her dues for just as long.
The argument for Curtis:
Jamie Lee Curtis deserved her Oscar and equally overdue as Bassett. The difference was that unlike Bassett, Curtis was a part of a Best Picture film while Bassett was a part of a Marvel movie. That is not a shot at Marvel movies or the superhero genre at all, but the historic opinion held by the Academy has been that Marvel movies aren’t “real cinema.” There have been Oscar nominations for Marvel movies in the past, however the only wins have belonged to “Black Panther” and “Black Panther Wakanda Forever,” in Costume Design, Best Original Score and Best Production design. However, for actors and actresses, nominations have been hard to come by. Instead of splitting hairs, fans should acknowledge that Curtis and Bassett had comparable performances and careers. But then if Curtis was a part of the Best Picture winner and Bassett was a part of a Marvel movie that the Academy has never taken seriously, it makes sense that Curtis left with the award.
Biggest losers of the night:
Here are my rapid fire opinions on the biggest Oscar losers. These movies weren’t victim to Oscar snubs, that’d be an understatement. These movies get a whole different category because they spent the whole night clapping, and graciously losing everything to everyone all at once. So they’ve been crowned the biggest losers of the night.
The Banshees of Inisherin:
This movie history. Forever in Oscar history, Banshees of Inisherin will be known as the one of the biggest losers, as they earned nine nominations and not a single Oscar win. You can make the argument that they were snubbed for every award they were nominated for. Or just call it an unfortunate, fat loss. Each time the movie almost won something, miles away the country of Ireland shed a tear for Colin Farrell.
The Fablemans:
Steven Spielberg! I love that guy. He’s so good at making movies he has two Oscars to his name, Spielberg was expected to produce greatness with his movie, “The Fablemans,” a passion project and a semi-autobiographical film about his own life as a young filmmaker. It won some awards at lesser known film associations and even got nominated for several categories at the Oscars such as Best Director. But the academy awarded him nothing. He won nothing. The movie won nothing. He probably would’ve gotten a lot more attention for winning nothing if it wasn’t for the unprecedented amount of losses “The Banshees of Inisherin” suffered.