This Whole Thing is Bullsh%$

After decades of profligate spending on getting Oscar nominations, a practice begun by Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein, (Google "Shakespeare in Love" "Saving Private Ryan" "Academy Awards", or click on this link) it's suddenly a scandal that people involved with a small independent film did the same thing on the cheap using social media.

I am talking, of course, about Andrea Riseborough's nomination as Best Actress for her role in the film To Leslie, where some folks are having a complete meltdown, because ……… I'm not sure ……… She and the filmmakers aren't a serial rapist?

The matter is finally settled: Andrea Riseborough will be allowed to keep her Oscar nomination.

Following a week of controversy, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences met Tuesday to assess whether the intense social media campaign contributing to Riseborough’s surprising best-actress nod for “To Leslie,” a little-seen independent film, abided by the organization’s guidelines. While the Academy didn’t find reason to rescind the nomination, it found fault with unspecified “social media and outreach campaigning tactics” and announced it would address those concerns with the responsible parties.

………

The 41-year-old English actress surprised the public by landing a best-actress nomination last week — alongside Ana de Armas, Cate Blanchett, Michelle Williams and Michelle Yeoh — which turned attention to the unusual push behind it.

Just as voting for the Oscar nominations began, dozens of prominent actors began sharing praise for the low-budget film and its lead performance on their personal social media accounts. Actress Mary McCormack, the wife of “To Leslie” director Michael Morris, reportedly coordinated much of the efforts by personally encouraging people to watch and share their thoughts online.

………

TCM host and Entertainment Weekly awards correspondent Dave Karger said while he believed the controversy over Riseborough’s nomination was overblown, the Academy “is smart to deal with this and understand how social media changes the game.” Matthew Belloni, former editorial director at the Hollywood Reporter who co-founded the media company Puck, called the organization reckoning with Oscar campaigns in the social media age “the biggest legacy” of the debacle.

“There’s an entire economy around the Oscars, and it’s all predicated on the legitimacy of the awards,” Belloni said. “If the awards are tainted by this specter of cronyism, that does have an impact on their legitimacy. That’s something the Academy should care about.”Of course, he added, “there’s been cronyism in the Oscars since literally the second year they gave them.”

I'm not a mind reader, but I think that people in the Academy are upset because someone found a way to lobby them without their getting some sort of swag.

What vapid empty people.