Another Academy Member Admits to not Watching 12 Years a Slave

This member abstained from voting in the animated branch because she did not see all of the nominees but could not do the same for Best Picture. Moreover, did she watch The Act of Killing? There was no film harder to watch than that one. She sat through Wolf of Wall Street, harder to watch than 12 Years a Slave. Someone put out the word early that this movie was “too hard to watch,” thus, ancient members like this voter simply felt entitled not to. I don’t know how this year’s outcome will turn out but I do know that it’s time for the Academy to do some major house cleaning – encourage these members to retire. If they can’t bring themselves to see a film that is the frontrunner for the Best Picture Oscar they should realize it’s time to step aside. They are finished. Their choices and expertise is better put to use in the AARP. Her choices are not bad. But they are incomplete. This is a woman who did not see all of the nominated films and therefore should not be put in charge of deciding which is best. It’s as simple as that.

My favorites were Her, which is about the future, and Nebraska, which is about the past. Gravity I liked very much because I’d never seen anything like it and I just love George Clooney — but when she [Sandra Bullock] climbed out of the water I thought, “This is where an alligator is gonna get her.” Dallas Buyers Club is a good movie with something important to say. I had problems with American Hustle. The best thing in it was that scene with Robert De Niro; I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likable. The Wolf of Wall Street? N.O. I did not like that movie. And I have not been able to bring myself to watch 12 Years a Slave. [I pressed the member to explain why.] Here is my problem: As you know, I am a senior. I have a lot of stuff in my head [I believe this is a reference to death]. What I don’t want is more terrible stuff to keep in my head. I have never liked movies that have severe violence. Yes, I saw Schindler’s List, but — Look, I’ve lived long enough to know what it was like for a person to be a black person in America. I mean, it’s not anything that I’m not aware of. I may still go and see it [the film], but I just don’t want to. Is that terrible? At five o’clock tonight I’m gonna watch Going My Way on TCM. That’s my kind of a movie — even if Bing Crosby was actually a bad person. Is there one picture this year that makes you feel better?

She also votes for 20 Feet from Stardom but admits to never having seen The Square. Dollars to donuts she never saw The Act of Killing either. You know, it being about genocide and all.

20 Feet from Stardom has been well publicized and I liked it very much. Those women featured in the film are delightful. I wish it had focused more on Phil Spector, though, who was the worst person in the world and should have been in jail long before he got there. My friends tell me The Square is one of the best documentaries that they ever saw, but I haven’t had a chance to see it.

MY PICK: 20 Feet from Stardom