Good movies robbed of well-deserved awards; with the Academy, elitism wins every time

The 81st Academy Award nominations were announced last week, featuring some of the year's most impressive films and performances. Or did they? Every year the Academy throws around awards and nominations that are generally accepted by the public as some of the best work of the year. This year, however, I cannot get my head around this list of nominations.

For those unaware, elitism is the belief that there is an "elite" group of individuals with "superior" wealth and intellect whose opinions and viewpoints carry the most weight. Sometimes that belief is taken too far as is the case with this year's Academy Awards. "The Dark Knight," the most watched and talked about film this year, was left out of the best picture and director categories. The film did get the requisite best supporting actor nod for Heath Ledger but the rest of the nominations were all technical and artistic nominations (well deserved nonetheless). The point is that, because "The Dark Knight" is based on a fictional comic book character, it may never get the true recognition it deserves. This is where the closed-minded, elitist mentality comes into play. If the movie were a historical drama or based on a famous novel, it would have no problem racking up the nominations. The fact that "The Dark Knight" is a summer blockbuster also weakened its chances. This is because most films that are nominated are designed to come out right at the end of the year so producers can meet the deadline. Movies that are released before December rarely get recognized. So now studios are essentially getting penalized for making a film that millions of people will go to watch.

Maybe it is my own fault that I am disappointed. I loved "The Dark Knight" and so did 99 percent of the people I know (The Daily Campus named it movie of the year as did many critics and other Internet outlets). I was wrong to think the Academy would nominate a film that transcends genres to give audiences an experience that was both entertaining and thought-provoking. Maybe that was simply building my hopes up. I figured that if a film like "Lord of the Rings," which involves wizards, hobbits and elves, can garner elitist recognition, surely a movie about a man fighting crime and chaos could do the same.

As a film, "The Dark Knight" is just immensely watchable. It is perfectly paced, edited, constructed and essentially designed to make sure viewers never remove their eyes from the screen. Every little detail is put in place to signify something and add more layers to the story for those who care to sift through them. Heath Ledger literally gave the performance of his lifetime for a reason. An actor can rarely pour his heart and soul into a role unless the film creating that role is just as phenomenal. Whether it was Christian Bale's subtle but immersive performance, Aaron Eckhart's surprisingly poignant portrayal of villain Harvey Dent or the beautiful cinematography, "The Dark Knight" has the all the ingredients for an Academy Award nomination. Yet somehow it was snubbed. Somehow a select group of individuals believed they knew better than more than 90 percent of the general public.

Viewership for the Oscars has waned over the last few years. Movies that are nominated are just not films that the masses can enjoy or sometimes even be aware of. Do not get me wrong, I loved "No Country for Old Men" but no one could tell me that it was a film everyone saw. Conversely, a lot of people saw "Indiana Jones" but a movie like that doesn't necessarily deserve a great award. This past summer "The Dark Knight" was able to find the middle ground by giving us something that everyone could agree was a great movie worthy of some recognition (besides the millions at the box office). This was the Academy's chance to really bring them out of the Stone Age and make themselves relevant again. Nominating Christopher Nolan's masterpiece would have been the right decision for everyone involved. Instead they have shot themselves in the foot alienating viewers and critics alike for a long time, possibly permanently.

There was a time when films and television were thought of as mindless drivel. People thought it corrupted the masses or turned them into vegetables. Now, films and television can be looked at as artistic, intellectual and even revolutionary. So there will be a time when comic book movies and maybe even comic books themselves will become subjects of intellectual discussion. Things like that naturally happen with change over time but I fear that, even if "The Dark Knight" gets recognized retroactively (probably not) it would be too little too late.