Oscars 2014: 5 Things In Defense Of The Academy Awards

5. Hindsight Is Never 20/20

It's a simple fact that, as humans, we would have made different decisions in the past if we had known what we know now. So it only makes sense that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences would experience similar errors of judgment. Case in point: the 69th Academy Awards ceremony. While we all know now that Fargo and Jerry Maguire are both classics of cinema, doesn't it seem logical that in 1997 (mere weeks after some of these films had been released), that it would make sense to the Oscar voters to vote for The English Patient? Let's analyze this for a moment, with the mindset of a 1997 movie viewer.... First we have The English Patient. A nearly 3-hour long picture that tells a passionate love story set against the backdrop of World War II? I've admittedly never seen this before, but if I were an Academy Award voter, this movie would be like candy. Second we have Fargo. A comedy set in Minnesota, which features a scene wherein a pregnant police woman points a gun at a man shoving someone into a wood chipper. And it's pretty much played for laughs. Honestly, I'm impressed at the time they even nominated this movie.