Oscar Snubs Mel & Moore – But What Does It Mean?

The Passion of the Christ and Fahrenheit 9/11 might have been the year’s most talked-about movies, cultural watersheds that produced hefty lines at movie houses and a mother lode of pundits yapping about the inevitable divide between red America and blue America. Yet one group that seemed curiously uninterested in the religion, politics and controversy the two pictures embraced was the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which opted to leave both off the shortlist for best picture.” So is Hollywood out of touch? Are moviegoers easily seduced by mediocre films that play to their preexisting beliefs? Maybe both.