Oscars SNUB Michael Moore

The Huffington Post has reported that of the 89 documentary films eligible for Oscar consideration this year, 15 were selected for a short list of potential nominees. And Michael MooreMichael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story wasn’t one of them.

The R-rated film was praised by critics and earned over $14 million at the box office.

The irony is not lost on me that a bunch of conservative old rich white men, also known as the Academy, omitted a film that exposes the evils of what capitalism has become and asserts that, under this current model, capitalism no longer works for the greater good of America because its turning our country into a two-tiered society in which the rich become richer and the poor become poorer and the middle-class is being eliminated.

Capitalism is easily Moore’s best and most passionate film to date. It stuck with me weeks after I saw it.

Through the years, the Academy has had a penchant for failing to vote for documentaries that acknowledge important issues that need to be addressed right here at home. Instead, they have preferred to remain in Fantasyland, in their own privileged, protective, out-of-touch bubble. While Born into Brothels (also known as Born into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids) won in 2004 for its extremely relevant subject matter, the Academy blew the perfect opportunity 20 years earlier to vote for Streetwise, which followed teenage runaways, some of which were prostitutes in Seattle, Washington. In 2005, they chose March of the Penguins over Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. In 2008, they picked Man on Wire over Trouble the Water, which chronicled an African American couple who were stuck in their hometown of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, their journey out, and their chance at a new beginning.

The Oscars are missing somebody and that somebody is Michael Moore. The show is missing Diane LaneDiane Lane’s elated announcement of Michael Moore as the winner. It’s missing the standing ovation from a primarily overjoyed audience, notably Martin ScorseseMartin Scorsese, Josh BrolinJosh Brolin, Julianne MooreJulianne Moore, Daniel Day-LewisDaniel Day-Lewis, Renee Zellweger, and Meryl StreepMeryl Streep. It’s missing Michael Moore’s unforgettable acceptance speech. It’s missing his supporters cheering him on. It’s missing his detractors booing him. It’s missing his supporters booing his detractors. It’s missing his detractors booing his supporters. It’s missing democracy.

By the way, for all of you Michael Moore naysayers out there who will claim he wasn’t nominated because of his “lack of credibility,” check out his website, http://www.michaelmoore.com/, in which he provides footnotes that back up all the facts he has put in Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko, and Capitalism: A Love Story.