Where the privileged rich white guys that make up the academy frankly feel that they have done enough, so that blacks and browns need to give up making demands, especially for real equity. Watch 2016 where whatever White administration will be lauded with some odd praise, as if somehow, the president is more like the president again.

This goes double for the males that make up the majority of the academy. Note that even an insider like Angelina Jolie, whose "Fearless" movie made MORE MONEY than any nominated movie and got a ton of good reviews, did NOT get a nomination. Oh yes, give Julianne Moore a nomination because her coming back would be a feel good story, but then again, she is NOT trying to be a director, because we all know that there are few woman directors, much less ones of any shade below "milk."

It is one thing to bring in a nominee, make them sit in the theater, act like this is the high point of their lives, and then expect them to sit in their seat whenever the music plays for the safe choice. It is a common feature of all reward shows. If you are not liked, then they will ignore your best work, and then give you a nomination at the end of your career when you are on the way out, like when they gave Liz Taylor the award for "butterfield 8" or when the Grammys gave Steely Dan an award to skip Eminem. But you are still expected to think of this award as your highlight, even if it, as this op points out, winds up being the Kiss of death.

But this year is something new, something WORSE, here, the academy is lighting a 500 dollar cigar in one of those expensive strip clubs they call "gentleman's clubs." They do not even want to pretend to give a damn anymore. They feel so safe in the idea that their good old days are coming back that they do not even have to pretend they are not assholes. After all, when Sony got hacked (after the second time hackers showed them they scrimped on security), they fired the woman who got caught making the remarks about race, but the men, from Seth Rogan on, got to enjoy free publicity for a damned stoner flick that was also a series of cheap asian jokes. Hell, at least South Park made as much fun of the Americans as they did Kim Il Jong, now there is NOT even the need to poke fun at White guys, because they feel they have already gone out of their way. Je Suis Charlie, y'know?

And I truly feel gender is very much in play here.

This is why I roll my eyes at fawning over what 22 year old Hollywood stars have to say about feminism whenever they have a new movie coming out. Like we don't see what is REALLY going on here?

After all, when Sony got hacked (after the second time hackers showed them they scrimped on security), they fired the woman who got caught making the remarks about race, but the men, from Seth Rogan on, got to enjoy free publicity for a damned stoner flick that was also a series of cheap asian jokes.