The Snub Club

Yesterday, I brought up three lesser-known Oscar nominations I was glad about since it brought attention to the films.  This is a companion piece of sorts to that.   

For the most part -- (periodically with an occasional exception or two...) -- I'm fine with whoever gets nominated.  I have no skin in the game, other than if I may have I dearly loved a movie or teeth-gnashingly hated it. But every year, there's always seems to be a discussion in the media and among fans that for me is a personal bugaboo.  And that's the notion of ''They got 'snubbed'!!"

I almost never want to get into a discussion about whether or not the Academy actually did "snub" anyone, because honestly I just don't care enough. And also because it's generally presumptuous to be so certain (let alone think) that the massively diverse 10,000 members of the Motion Picture Academy acted in near-unanimity to gang up on someone or some movie, perhaps meeting up in darkly-lit, private Snub Clubs to decide on actions, or send out Snub Letter memos to follow. While there are always, in any segment of society, opinions that become more prominent -- based on experience, culture, craft (and it's always critical to remember, which most people don't, that unlikely things like The People's Choice Awards, or even the over-lauded Golden Globes, the Oscars are a professional craft honor, voted on by career filmmakers looking, no matter how subjectively, at their field of expertise) -- those 10,000 members range in age from probably 18 to 90, men and women, different disciplines, different life views, different nationalities and more.  But I will say this about the concept of "snubbing":

This is something I've long believed, but it came to particular prominence in 2025 due to the phenomenon that was "Barbie," which grossed an astronomical $1.44 billion worldwide. "Barbie" got a lot of nominations including Best Picture, two Best Supporting nominations, and Greta Gerwig getting a nomination for the screenplay. As "snubs" go, it did really well.  But Margot Robbie didn't get a nomination for Best Actress, and Ms. Gerwig didn't also get nominated for Best Director.  And so, the outcry among its fans were -- despite its eight nominations, among them Best Picture -- that the movie got "snubbed"!!

However, all things are not equal. A lead actress might be brilliant -- but there might be 10 brilliant lead actresses that year, and five of them are going to have to be left out (sorry, "snubbed").  That's just basic math.  Ten is more than five.  There's no other way around it. 

On the other hand, there might only be four really standout Best Supporting Actor performances that year, so they'll all get nominated -- with one "also-ran."  (Which usually brings the outcry, "How did he/she get nominated??  What a joke.")

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 directed the Best Picture.

People often look at something as "snubbed" because they don't know several of the other nominees. So, the presumption is that, gee, those must not be any good. But that's on them for not seeing these other movies. Academy members are sent DVDs or shown (streaming on the Academy website) almost all the eligible films with even a remote chance. So, they do see them. Many take voting very seriously -- out of obligation or love of movies.  (I have an Academy-member friend who almost goes into hibernation when Oscar-voting seasons comes around, often watching almost two movies a day for weeks.)  And they 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, since this is a professional craft award, most people in the public don't even know exactly what a director does.  Or even, to a degree, actors -- who many people think make up their lines, or don't realize how much an editor can impact a performance.  Or have any idea that screenwriters actually write those moments of action or silence when someone isn't talking.  Let alone have any idea what the "under-the-line" craft artists do.  Or what a gaffer or grip is.)

A slight digression on being "snubbed" of an Oscar nomination:

The movie "Jaws" changed the film industry.  It created the concept of summer tent-pole blockbuster, which has become the standard every since.  It was a massive success -- it not only grossed $480 million worldwide (in 1975, worth almost $3 billion today!), but it was the first movie ever to gross over $100 million domestically...indeed, crushing that mark, taking in $280 million.  It skyrocketed Stephen Spielberg into being a superstar director.  It was nominated as Best Picture and won three Oscars.  And for all that, Stephen Spielberg was not even nominated.  It turns out, he did okay with his career.

Or take the movie "The Music Man."  If that show is ever brought up to a person (and they know what it is...), what is the first thing that people likely think of?  Probably 'Prof. Harold Hill -- and Robert Preston.  After all, he gave one of the legendary performances on Broadway in the role and won the Tony Award.  And the movie was a huge hit and got nominated for Best Picture.  It's a story that only works if the actor playing 'Harold Hill' is brilliant in it.  He's the core center of it, the sun in the universe.  Everything revolves around him.  And "The Music Man" was nominated for Best Picture.  Which only happens because Robert Preston was at his legendary best.  And -- okay, I'm sure you know where this is going -- Robert Preston did not get an Oscar nomination as Best Actor for "The Music Man."  Because that year, Academy voters thought there were five others even better.  It turns out that he, too, did okay with his career.

By the way, who were the five actors got Oscar nominations as Best Actors that year, pushing out Robert Preston in his supposed "snubbing"?  They were -- Gregory Peck (for "To Kill a Mockingbird"), Burt Lancaster for "Birdman of Alcatraz"), Jack Lemmon for "Days of Wine and Roses"), Marcello Mastroianni (for "Divorce--Italian Style"), and Peter O'Toole (for "Lawrence of Arabia")!!!!  Each of them legendary performances.  Each so great that it's hard to imagine that any of them didn't win.  But it was Gregory Peck who did.  Was Robert Preston, in his fabled, Tony-winning performance as 'Prof. Harold Hill' snubbed by the Oscars for not getting nominated in the Best Picture nominee "The Music Man"?  Who should have been bumped for him?  And would they then have been "snubbed"?  It happens.  Some years are great.

Greta Gerwig received an Oscar nomination for Best Screenwriter.  The film she directed was nominated for Best Picture.  That's high praise.  She was not "snubbed."  Such things happen.  There are other artists who made films, and voters like those even more.  And in the end, her movie grossed $1.44 billion, she rose to superstar director (and filmmaker), and her career was rock-solid established.

But most of all, in the end, when you find yourself in a debate about Who Got Snubbed?!!!, it always leads -- and must lead -- to that final, critical 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 totally inappropriate. And if you do end up saying, "Well...okay, I'd drop so-and-so," then fans of that person will cry out at the person being "snubbed."

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