12 Wild Oscar Conspiracy Theories People Actually Believe
2. Zero Dark Thirty’s Senate Smear Campaign
2013 was a big year for Oscar related conspiracies. We had
Ben Affleck’s award-repellent six pack, Daniel Day-Lewis’s
Illuminati-worshipping acceptance speech and yet another furore in the shape of
the snubbing of director Kathryn Bigelow’s political thriller Zero Dark Thirty.
A dramatization of the nigh on decade-long manhunt for Osama bin Laden following the World Trade Centre attacks, the film was heaped with critical acclaim but predictably generated its fair share of controversy for its depiction of the USA military’s ‘enhanced interrogation’ methods a.k.a. waterboarding, sleep deprivation, psychological humiliation and other such questionable tactics.
Despite this, Zero Dark Thirty did manage to scoop a total of five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay but come the evening of the ceremony it only walked away with one win for Best Sound Editing. Not to mention, it had to share that glory with Bond flick Skyfall which it tied for the award with.
The reason for its relative lack of success? Apparently, the US Senate found its torture scenes so realistic they suspected the CIA had improperly imparted classified information to Zero Dark Thirty’s makers. Perhaps worse than the disclosure of top secret info, the film didn’t exactly portray the US as the wholesome, apple pie-eating, American Dream-peddling country we know and love.
So, the Senate launched an investigation into the relationship between the CIA and Bigelow and Co which many think negatively impacted Zero Dark Thirty’s chances at the Oscars. And as we know, it was Argo – which, funnily enough, paints America in a far more positive light – that took the Best Picture award that year. Hmm.