The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences may have their origins in self-congratulatory PR (and, if you dig deeper, union-busting) but, by and large, it does a reasonably good job of providing a signal boost for quality films. Brooklyn isn't going to win anything this year — but more people are going to know about that modest little story of an Irish immigrant making her way to America as a result of this year's broadcast. Maybe they'll give it a stream some night and enjoy a worthwhile drama that would have otherwise been forgotten. See? The Bataan Death March of "awards season" press events may have been worth it after all.
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Oscars 2016: Who's Going to Win, Who Should Win »But the organization is far from infallible. This is a relatively small group of industry insiders who skew to a particular demographic, and they make mistakes. Many of cinema's true masters have never won the award they deserved. Alfred Hitchcock never took home an Oscar for directing; neither did Stanley Kubrick. (Hitch got a lifetime achievement, however, and Stanley won for the special effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey.) Don't bellyache for Brad Pitt ignored as a thespian – he's got his trophy for producing 12 Years a Slave.
But what about those worthy film artists who never got anything — not even a category curveball or the end-of-career salute? Who will recognize the Hollywood greats standing in the shadow of the Full Oscar Diss? Many of them still have a shot, while some have already left this mortal coil, forever denied access to that Great Luncheon in the Sky.
