Tom O’Neil asked a few of us to send in our thoughts on this idea that the Gothams snubbed Precious and that somehow Oprah was involved. Or maybe there are two different ideas being floated – one is that Oprah and Tyler Perry are making it uncool to like Precious and the other is that the Gothams snubbed Precious and what that might mean for Oscar.
The Gothams snubbed Precious? What does it mean to Oscar? Squat. That’s what it means.
Here is the NY Post’s Lou Lumenick:
The total snub of “Precious” in the Gotham Award nominations yesterday, which Tom O’Neil calls “shocking” in the L.A. Times, tends to confirm my suspicion that awards-wise, the film could suffer a backlash because of its high-profile endorsement by Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry.
This would be known as the reverse-Oprah effect, which seems to only apply to movies she’s either involved with or films she hypes — like Australia. The thing is, and I’m fairly sure I’m right about this, the movie itself is what makes the difference. I really don’t think, sad to say, that Academy members pay that much attention to Oprah (or anyone else for that matter). If she loves and promotes Juno, people see Juno and love it so it keeps right on going. If she loves and promotes Australia – people see it, hate it and it goes nowhere. People have already seen Precious. That is the part of the equation that reverses the premise of a backlash. The only reason the Gothams went a different direction is that, at this time of year, awards groups like to distinguish themselves from one another.
So when everyone was lining up behind No Country for Old Men, one group decided to honor There Will Be Blood instead. It kind of made a difference for that film. Honoring Precious at the Gothams isn’t going to do much for that movie that it doesn’t already have; honoring The Hurt Locker helps a movie that really does need to be back in the spotlight and doesn’t have Oprah and Tyler Perry pumping up its potential box office returns.
Anyway, please click on over to The Envelope to read what others have to say — people like Steve Pond, Jeff Wells, Gregory Ellwood, etc.
25 Responses for "The Oprah Effect on Precious"
I hope Oprah and Tyler Perry back off when the movie hits the theaters and starts making money. They were needed for the exposure but that where their involvement should end. When it comes to Oscar campiagn, let the movie and studio speak for themselves. That and enough with people who call Mo`nique win a done deal. Nobody likes to be told that decision has already been made before they actually make one. So, yeah, if they want to avoid backlash, better lay off crowning Mo`nique right now.
I think this is an example where oscar prognosticators analyze things far too much – let’s look at the nominees for this year’s Gotham Awards – nothing here really – aside from the hurt locker and a serious man probably aren’t going to gain any traction awards wise….the nominees are really a mish mash of different films, genres and stories – and it seems to me that these nominees are meant more to stand out more original choices….time will tell, but i think going over board analytically speaking is a bit much.
‘the road’ new poster:
http://www.impawards.com/2009/road_ver3.html
Can there be a backlash? I think if there is going to be a “backlash” that it may end up being a combination of the violence and the Oprah/Tyler affect. Many people will not want to sit through that type of violence. This isn’t the theater. Many people will be turned off by the blatant chorus of “go see it cause I endorse it”. But that backlash is going to occur with Audiences. Not with the Academy.
The Academy isn’t going to give two hoots about either of those scenarios. The Academy is going to care about does the film deserve notice. We’ve seen countless times where blatant campaigning a film or actor has helped a nomination and perhaps even a win. What the Academy will care about will be are the performances the type of performance one nominates. My guess is that the nominations will be there. Winnning might be a different story. Winning will depend a great deal on how the media and the public perceives Abe and Monique and the backers. Bad press won’t help them.
My advice is everyone should lay low. Let the film find it’s own voice. Chances are the film will find that voice a lot sooner if everyone of the participants back off.
im still predicting big things for precious.
http://oscarwrestler.blogspot.com/
Is Oprah endorsing any other film/s this year?
hey sasha!
here’s the Invictus poster(!):
http://www.omelete.com.br/images/galerias/humanfactor/posterinternacional.jpg
“This would be known as the reverse-Oprah effect, which seems to only apply to movies she’s either involved with or films she hypes — like Australia”
Thank you for that. I still remember people overhyping Australia and the film ultimately crashed and burned. Was it the reverse-Oprah effect?, don’t know.
…But I don’t think Oprah has that big of an influence when it comes down to awards. Australia’s shut out was merely because the film was horrible. It has nothing to do with Oprah. Let us just see how Precious does with the real critics. I never rely on the Gotham awards for anything.
Ugh, here we go again with the “Australia was horrible” crap.
It wasn’t. Okay? Even if you didn’t particularly find it to your liking, can you deny it was BEAUTIFULLY, I mean exquisitely, shot? That the costumes and production design was exemplary? That its big, sweepingly epic scope and romantic center weren’t rapturous and moving? That the aborigine child, played just perfectly by Brandon Walters, didn’t add a wonderfully poignant heart to the picture?
For me, it was one of 2008’s very best films. Let’s not exaggerate things here and pretend it’s on the same level as Norbit.
the gotham awards don’t really make that much of a dent, really. last year they left off indie films like milk and the wrestler…yet they did okay in the end.
precious speaks for itself. and as noted, people have seen it.
i also don’t think the subject matter will make people stray. plus, there are moments when you can stasnd up and cheer. in the end, precious is a character you root for. that is definitely something people will want to get behind.
The Natural:
Beautifully shot does not equal great movie. Good costumes does not equal great movie. If this was true, films like Pearl Harbor, Marie Antoinette and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (among others) would have been praised. Great looks?, sure; but it doesn’t excuse the fact that it was melodramatic crap. IMO of course. To each his own.
Well you ignored the other things I said as well, which contributed to its greatness: beautiful romance, great epic sweep, real poignancy and heart, etc etc. Of course the fact that it’s visually tremendous IS indeed a part of its success and yes – its quality.
Interesting. I didn’t realize it until now, but I DID lose my interest in Precious about the time I read “Oprah” and “Tyler Perry” attached to it.
Better to tarnish some of the frontrunner gloss now instead of having it happen in December. This way there’s still time to rebound from the backlash.
This story irritates me. Where did this Tyler Perry/Oprah effect nonsense begin? Who rules out an Oscar contender because their names are attached? How many times has a film executive produced by either failed to be recognized after being considered a top candidate?
I submit that Precious was not nominated because the Gothams probably just didn’t dig it. Or, to combine my take with what Sasha has suggested, they not only disliked it but also recognized that both it and The Hurt Locker are likely award players, and wanted to make their preference clear.
As Karina Longworth helpfully pointed out in her Twitter the other day, the role of an awards body is not to predict other awards bodies. That doesn’t mean they aren’t aware of each other or conscious of how awarding something that is under-awarded elsewhere might give it a boost. On the contrary: I’m sure they know very well that someone will say “Where is Precious,” to which they might respond, “Not on the list is where.” All it means is, the people who make up these juries aren’t sitting around saying “How can we produce the likely Oscar 10?” At most, they are reading other people’s calls 1) for suggestions and 2) to take the pulse of what is out there, in order to better position their OWN calls.
Honestly I think the GothamAwards try to separate themselves from IndieSpiritAwards – let’s see Precious dominate there.
The only reason that I can come up with that the Academy wouldn’t nominate this movie is because of the subject matter. However, I think the movie will do quite well when nominations are announced. I can picture a scenario where the film gets several nominations, but doesn’t win the awards it is supposed to (e.g. Brokeback Mountain). I do have a feeling that lesser-thans (Up in the Air) may trump this movie because, quite frankly, Academy members have an aversion towards films that tackle taboo subjects, in this case incest. I remember reading an article, after the Brokeback Mountain controversy, that many in the Academy just skipped watching the film because of the subject matter. Of course, in a perfect world, it would be a requirement that all members watch every film up for nominations. But that seems too much to ask.
The Gotham Awards are getting more mileage – and attention – then they ever have in their entire history because of this “Oprah Snub” And you know something? It’s probably absolutely totally true. I do think they did it on purpose, and with backings the like of Oprah AND Tyler Perry, it lifts it out of the indie film range and budget that the Gothams are supposed to be celebrating.
This is the biggest thing they’ve ever done.
Will it hurt “Precious”s Oscar chances? I don’t know if it ever really had Oscar WIN chances, except for Mo’Nique.
Does the Academy even KNOW what the Gotham Awards ARE??? I don’t think that they do. Or that they care.
It’s beneath them quite frankly and leftie-liberals that they are they will judge “Precious” on those merits, I think. Social relevance it’s got!
The Welfare Office scenes are unforgettable in their accuracy. Mo’Nique’s MomFromHell giving the performance of her life just to keep those checks coming! WOW!
But what is true is that not only are the Academy scrambling to find ten movies worth nominating. They are also scrambling to find five ACTRESSES worth nominating!
And with Hilary Swank going down in flames over the Pacific, somebody like Abbie Cornish’s chances are on the up again.
And certainly they are going to nominated Gaborney Sidibe. Right? They kinda really have to.
It’s the directors branch that I can’t read. Will they nominate Lee Daniels or even the supposed shoo-in Kathryn Bigelow?
Is Tom O’Neill right once again, when he says he thinks the OLDSTRAIGHTWHITERICHMALE syndrome that has its’ Custers Last Stand in the Director’s Branch, are they going to do what they’ve always done and just nominate white-males-like-themselves?
The Gothams will help “The Hurt Locker” and “The Hurt Locker” needs all the help it can get because it doesn’t have HARVEY W. or OPRAH behind it….
“The Hurt Locker” has to win every critics award in sight, then get re-released at the appropriate awards moment.
And you know, the Oscars have been moved back to March because of the Olympics? That’s two weeks where NOTHING happens in February except the Olympics…These films have the longest road to the Oscars in recent years…
I dont even know why this is an issue, because of who the ex. producers are a movie is discounted , in that case the pianist should have been discounted or penelope cruz shouldnt have won because of woody allen ’s demons this supposed backlash is ignorant and idiotic ridiculous.
sam, for the record as great as precious is, up in the air is the superior film. in fact, i doubt there will be something better this year.
Part of the allure of “Precious” was for audiences to “find” the film themselves. Word of mouth on this movie would have been tremendous. Now that it has been “Oprah-ized”, audiences will feel that it is been forced on them and that it is a mainstream movie. “Precious” is a gritty, scrappy little gem and Oprah is so mainstream that it makes the movie look like run of the mill. Look at movies like “Frozen River”, “The Visitor”, “Half-Nelson” – these are just three examples of films that were so under the radar that it was a pleasure for film goers to discover Too bad that “Precious” will be denied that opportunity.
Monique better hope the “two” old women in “Nine” don’t show up for the party or she could find herself even scratched off the dance card. If Nine comes out of the gate with a bang it’s going to shake up the game. I still think the DDL won’t get a nom. But the women. It’s their too loose.
What are the Gothams? who gives a hoot? no one. They have probably received more attention now that they’ve snubbed “precious” than they’ve ever received in the duration of their existence. This is a testament to precious’ buzz.
And what is this talk about Oprah? people are really desperate to pin dirt on Oprah any chance they get huh? smh if I remember correctly, the gothams or gotham or whatever they are called snubbed indies like milk last year. Milk was a strong contender at the time so I guess they have a phobia for indies. If that’s not the case the gothams are clearly ra cists.
As for the person talking about NINE, forget it. NINE will BOMB. Case closed. Momo (monique) is getting her nom but Julianne Moore will probably win (for a single man)
You know, when I saw the recent trailer with Oprah recommending it, I just thought “ugh”. Can’t we just find this film and enjoy it for what it is, without it being Oprah’s idea? It just felt like desperation. I already wanted to see this film, so having Oprah on there makes no difference. No, actually, it does make me think, well if Oprah (who is renowned for her schmaltziness) thinks it’s good, how good or how bad is it going to be? I just wished they hadn’t put her in there. If only for the fact that while a lot of people out there love Oprah and base decisions on whether to see a film or buy a book or shop at that store on what she say’s about it, a lot of people probably don’t like her and resent her involvement in this film.
Oprah is not going to hurt Precious in anyway. In fact, Precious might help Oprah. It is going to restore people’s faith in Oprah’s movie picks. Since Crash I don’t really think about her endorsements twice. She is usually in love with the idea a movie represents instead of the movie as a whole.
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