Arts: The Very Depressing Thoughts of an Actual Oscar Voter

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Brow Beat The Very Depressing Thoughts of an Actual Oscar Voter By David Haglund Posted Thursday, Feb 21, 2013, at 05:02 PM ET Yesterday, Scott Feinberg at The Hollywood Reporter published the rambling thoughts that one Academy member had as he went over his ballot and decided whom to vote for. Feinberg calls the voter's stream-of-consciousness mutterings "strong but carefully considered opinions," but I can only assume he was being kind to a source who was either generous or foolish enough to let a reporter put his frequently ridiculous thought process on the record. For what it's worth, this voter is a member of the director's branch. Over at the Playlist, Kevin Jagernauth says it was the voter's Best Picture deliberations that he found depressing, but I got downhearted much earlier than that. Specifically, when the man said he doesn't "vote for anyone whose name I can't pronounce." He was thinking, of course, of Quvenzhané Wallis, which makes me wonder if, despite his apparently trouble-free use of the online Oscar ballot, he's one of the many Academy voters who aren't very good at the Internet. (Here, let me Google that for you.) More evidence that he's not the most web-savvy guy? He had not seen any of the nominees for Best Animated Short, all of which are, in fact, pretty short, and can be found online. He voted for Paperman anyway, because he "heard good things." He hadn't heard anything about the live-action shorts, and he hadn't watched those either, so he just skipped that category. Which some may find dispiriting. Personally ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate The Art of Cyberwar Suffer the Little Children House of Cards Is Paying Off for Netflix	Advertisement
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