It's All Snubjective

Well, the Oscar nominations were released yesterday – which means it’s time for all those upset to start complaining about “snubs.”

I don't want to get into a debate over specifics this year and whether or not the Academy "snubbed" anyone, because people rant about it so much all the time, and honestly...I just don't care enough. But the general concept of “snubbing” is one that does interest me.  And I did write about that elsewhere last year when people were upset at Greta Gerwig not getting a directing nomination for Barbie, despite the movie grossing a phenomenal $1.5 billion worldwide, and they claimed she was “snubbed” (the argument went) presumably because she is a woman.  And Margot Robbie who played the title character in the massive hit apparently also got “snubbed” for not getting a Best Actress nomination – though the reason for that “snub” was never made clear, since (given that the category was for “actress”) it couldn’t have been because she is a woman.  But no one was able to come up with another reason, so it was largely just left as an undefined “snub.”

What I wrote at the time was –

“Barbie got a bundle of nominations (eight, in fact) including Best Picture, two Best Supporting nominations for actor and actress, and Greta Gerwig herself got a nomination for the screenplay. As ‘snubs’ go, it did really well.”  Furthermore, she had already been nominated as Best Director for the movie Lady Bird, which also got a Best Picture nomination…and another nomination for her with Best Original Screenplay.  So, with those three nominations, and this new one for screenplay, and Best Picture (giving her two Best Picture nominations), it strikes me as incredibly hard to say the Academy doesn’t like her and snubs her simply because she’s a woman.

Should Ms. Gerwig have been nominated as Best Director for Barbie?  Personal choice, the Motion Picture Academy who voted said no, other people's mileage may vary.  But I’m absolutely sure, as disappointed as Greta Gerwig likely was at not getting an Oscar nomination for directing, she not only was extremely happy at getting nominated for the screenplay, and (most of all) ecstatic beyond all measure at the movie grossing $1.5 billion.  It made her career.  I'm certain that "Getting nominated for an Oscar" was near the bottom of the list, if on the list at all, when she sat down starring at a blank page to co-write and then direct the movie -- but rather, "Can I pull this off script and make a wonderful movie that people will love and actually go to??" That’s what she made the movie for.  If she’d been nominated for director, and the movie flopped or even just broke even, that likely would have raised a hurdle to her future directing work.  Now, she can do pretty much whatever she wants.  Having both box-office success and Oscar nominations is better.  But Hollywood studios cares most – overwhelmingly by far – for the box office.

And of course, when it comes to nominations, all things are not equal. A lead actress might be brilliant -- but there might be a half-dozen brilliant lead actresses that year, and one is going to be left out (sorry, "snubbed").

On the other hand, there might only be three really standout Best Supporting Actor performances that year, so they'll all get nominated -- with two "also-rans."

The same holds true for Best Director, even if the movie got a Best Picture nomination. If there were 10 great directors that year, five are going to be left out (sorry, "snubbed"), even if one of them directed the movie that won Best Picture.

Fun Fact:  this year, the movie Wicked got nominated for 10 Oscars including Best Picture.  However, its director John M. Chu was not nominated.  Another thing he was “not” is a woman, so that couldn’t have been the reason for him being “snubbed”.

And another Fun Fact:  the movie that made Steven Spielberg’s career was Jaws.  And it not only made his career, but it was a phenomenon that changed how Hollywood operated, creating the concept of a tent-pole Summer blockbuster that studios would plan their schedule around.  The movie was nominated for Best Picture – though none of the actors were, since clearly it wasn’t an “actors” kind of movie.  It was a masterwork of action, special effects and suspense, overseen by the wunderkind Steven Spielberg.  And do you know another category that Jaws also didn’t get an Oscar nomination for?  That’s right, Steven Spielberg was not nominated as Best Director for Jaws.  Honest.  (Side Note:  Not getting nominated didn’t hurt his career.)

I’ll toss in one more.  When you think of the movie musical  The Music Man, nominated for Best Picture, what first comes to mind?  For most people, it’s probably two words – “Robert Preston.”  After all, he had won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical when he played the role on Broadway, and it’s a tour-de-force performance that carries the stage show and movie, one of the legendary performances.  And – you guessed it – Robert Preston was not nominated for an Oscar in The Music Man.  Really.  (The actors who were nominated were Burt Lancaster for The Birdman of Alcatraz, Jack Lemmon for Days of Wine and Roses, Peter O’Toole for Lawrence of Arabia, Marcello Mastroianni for Divorce Italian Style and Gregory Peck – who won for To Kill a Mockingbird.  That was a really good year!  And so Robert Preston didn’t get even nominated for The Music Man.)

People often look at something as "snubbed" because they don't know several of the other nominees. So, the presumption is that, gee, those others must not be any good. But that's on them for not seeing these other movies. Academy members are sent links on the Academy website – or sent DVDs or sent invitations to screenings -- ) to almost all the eligible films with a chance. So, they do see them. And may decide, "Overall, I loved this movie...but man, the direction of this other movie was spectacular, even if I didn't care for the story as much, or the production design or costumes or whatever."

By the way, I want to be clear:  the film industry has a terrible history for employment of women.  And this carries over to Oscar nominations.  And Best Director is high on that list of poor representation of women.  And there have been, I’m sure, actual snubs – of women and others, for a range of reasons.  But when someone doesn’t get a nomination, women or otherwise, it is not inherently a “snub.”  As a said, there may be others who voters thought were better.  And as filmmakers themselves, Academy voters look at a movie differently than as an audience.  It at times overlaps, but they understand that what makes a Best Picture encompasses many disciplines – the performances, writing, production design, music score, editing  and so much more, all of which may involve the director, but ultimately they each succeed on their own professional level of craftsmanship.  And box-office has no place in determining how, to professionals, a movie was crafted – as was the writing, acting, design, music – and what made it overall, or in its parts, great.  Or unsuccessful, artistically.

But most important of all perhaps --

That leaves the final point: when one says, "So-and-so was snubbed!!!", then they must answer the question:  "Okay, so then which of the nominees would you drop?" Usually, all five are deserving -- and saying you'd drop a nominee because you didn't see the film is inappropriate. And if you do end up saying, "Well...okay, I'd drop so-and-so," then rest assured that fans of that artis will cry out at the person being…say it all together…"snubbed."

Some movies or people maybe perhaps do get "snubbed." Maybe. Perhaps. But it's rare. Usually, voters just like other nominees more.