Is this the biggest Oscars robbery ever? Gays debate the Academy’s most egregious snubs
way too early, but it’s finally starting to feel like our favorite season of the year! No, not autumn—awards season.As movies big and small race to theaters (and streamers) before 2023 is up, armchair prognosticators are finalizing their watch lists and checking them twice, looking ahead to next year’s biggest awards ceremonies.With the Oscars are very much on the brain, that’s likely what prompted Twitter X user @wetwalrus31to post the following question: What’s the biggest Oscar robbery of all time?whats the biggest oscar robbery of all time?Simple question, complicated answer.Every year, part of the narrative of the Academy Awards is who got snubbed—what actor, artist, film or filmmaker was so undeniable that they deserved recognition, but for whatever reason didn’t win their category, or didn’t even merit a nomination?
The options are endless!Despite only having a couple thousand followers, @wetwalrus31’s post must’ve struck a nerve because it’s garnered hundreds of replies, over a thousand quote-tweets (which in turn have even more quote-tweets), and upwards of 9.9M views.Understandably, there’s nothing even remotely near to a consensus pick here.
But, after a scroll through the responses, one movie seems to pop up more than anything else—one that’s near and dear to our hearts: Brokeback Mountain.With ‘Strange Way Of Life,’ the western is having its long-overdue coming out party.Ang Lee’s story of closeted cowboys in love was a watershed moment for LGBTQ+ cinema at the Oscars, earning a whopping 8 nominations at the 2006 ceremony, including a Best Actor nod for Heath Ledger and Best Supporting Actor for Jake Gyllenhaal.And it’s not like the Academy ignored it—hell, it won Best Score, Best Screenplay, and Best Director for Lee won—but all those trophies made it even more of a shocker when Brokeback Mountain lost Best Picture.
