For many, many years the Academy Awards have been pretty weird, flaky and a lot of times mean on science-fiction films. Sadly the upcoming 2010 Academy Awards is no exception. While acknowledging J.J. Abram’s Star Trek and James Cameron’s Avatar in several categories, unbelievably all of the actors from both stellar sci-fi films have been snubbed; none of the actors were nominated for any awards! Also, while Avatar is nominated for Best Picture, Star Trek is not. Double snub for such an ambitious and bold reboot of a beloved franchise.
While there is no explanation for why the cast of Star Trek was excluded, it seems that the doltish Academy members excluded the cast of Avatar because of some stupid misconception that the actors aren’t acting if technology like computer animation is used; that their performances weren’t the same as live-action acting. Which is ridiculous, especially since Avatar’s technology faithfully reproduced all of their facial expressions as they performed.
The Academy has had a long history of weird and senseless decisions and refusing to give out Oscars to actors in science-fiction films, as well as the coveted Best Picture title. Many, many actors and films that were sci-fi got snubbed by the Academy over the years. Even if the film took in more money that year than any other film. If awards were given to a sci-fi flick, it was usually to lesser technical categories like sound mixing or makeup.
Isn’t it about time the Academy’s prejudiced view of science-fiction films stops? Was the cast of Star Trek and Avatar treated unfairly? I think hell, yes! What do you think, fellow geeks?