10 Shocking Problems With How The Oscar Voting Works

7. The Average Academy Member Is 62 Years Old

A mere 14% of the entire Academy is younger than 50 years old €“ hardly an accurate representation of the film-making community. Now, this is not to criticise older members who, undoubtedly, will possess more experience. The sheer volume of the older members, however, has sparked a fair amount of controversy. The 2011 Academy Awards saw The Social Network, originally nominated for 8 awards in total, scoop Oscars for Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Music (Original Score) and Film Editing. The King's Speech unexpectedly won 5 awards including Best Actor, Best Director and the prized Best Picture Award. Understandably a little piqued, Sony Pictures Executives insinuated that the true reason they lost out to The King's Speech was a result of Oscar voters feeling alienated by the Internet-based story. Similarly, actress and Academy member, Alfre Woodard, 59, cited Steve McQueen's sexually explicit Shame as an example of a film that may have also been affected. He said:

"Maybe if the median age was 45 to 50, a film like Shame might show up, which I thought was a brilliantly rendered piece but a subject matter that you don't expect a certain older demographic would flock to see."

The Wolf of Wall Street may serve as a true eye-opener for members this year, then.