Trivia: Can The Dark Knight Win The Best Picture Oscar As A Write-In Candidate?
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I know this will come as a shock to most of you, but when the2008 Oscar nominationswere announced the other day, a lot of people were upset thatThe Dark Knightgot snubbed for Best Picture (and that Nolan got passed over for Best Director). Imagine that: Internet people getting upset thatThe Dark Knightis somehow not getting enough recognition. It’s wild, right?
All of the uproar ledone Academy Award voterto state, “I plan on casting a write-in vote for [The Dark Knight] on the final ballot.” This raises the question: CouldThe Dark Knightwin best picture as a write-in candidate? Hit the jump for the answer.
One of the factors that prompted the creation of write-ins was the 1935 snubbing of actressBette Davisfor what many considered to be one of the best performances of the year in John Cromwell’sOf Human Bondage. Outraged at this development, celebrities demanded the ability to write-in votes for Davis. EvenThe Hollywood Reportergot into the act, insinuating that the voting process that year was somehow mishandled. In response, in February 1935, Academy president Howard Estabrook announced that voters could write-in their personal choices for the winner of each category. Write-in votes would then be counted, just like any other votes.
At the 1936 Oscar ceremony, Hal Mohr became the first person in history to win an Oscar based on write-in votes alone. Mohr won an Oscar for cinematography for his work in the 1935 film,A Midsummer Night’s Dream(he had not been nominated).But due to the myriad of issues that were generated by the write-in process, not to mention the general confusion for all parties, the Academy changed the rulesto forbid write-ins after 1936. This made Hal Mohr the first and last person ever to win an Oscar through a write-in campaign.
In other words: Sorry guys. There is no wayThe Dark Knightwill be taking home a Best Picture or a Best Director trophy come February 22nd. Butlook on the bright side– at least it was nominated fora ton of other technical awards!
Some research for this post was derived from Emanuel Levy’s book,All About Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards.You can reach David Chen at davechensemail(at)gmail.com.
