Oscars In Memoriam: Recent Deaths Put Extra Pressure on Academy

"But it raises another point of contention: Who gets the final image? That in itself is a source of controversy, because the Academy folks want it to end on an emotional moment. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a strong possibility, but a much safer choice would be Shirley Temple."

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Timing is everything.

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Updated On: 2/25/14 at 07:45 PM

I seem to recall that the year Sandra Dee died she was not featured.

^^^ Totally agree.

Roger Ebert would also be a very worthy pick, hard to dispute ending on him.

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I sincerely hope Shirley Temple gets her own special tribute. She was an icon of American film and culture. I'm not sure that anyone else who passed away last year even comes close to the impact she had (with all due respect).

^^^ Agreed on all counts.

I think Philip Seymour Hoffman was an extraordinary actor, but I don't see him as an icon to millions of people over many generations. If Shirley Temple Black doesn't get her own tribute, she is the only choice for the final fade-out, in my opinion.

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Updated On: 2/26/14 at 09:37 AM

My friend's father had a long and recognizable resume in films. He was not mentioned in the memoriam segment of the oscars the year he died. She was so hurt that she boycotts the show every year.

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The Oscars never show everyone deserving who passed away during the previous year.

I'm not sure why they leave so many out (and it's not just a few, but a lot). I know they want to diversify and show some publicist or agent whom no one outside of that crowd has ever seen, let alone heard of. And they always do it, too, while leaving out some beloved actor or actress everyone knows or at least recognizes.

I realize the tribute is for the members, too, but it is a televised broadcast, so I think the publicists should be the first to go from these on-camera salutes. Sorry guys and gals, but you weren't on camera in life, and neither was your work.

I think they should take their cue from the TCM tributes. While they don't show publicists and agents, they do manage to get in all sorts of film worthy people, both in front of and behind the scenes. Minor but memorable character actors, writers, costume designers, etc.

The solution is to go faster with the images, cut quicker, and also allow an extra minute to include more of them. In a 3.5 hour broadcast, adding one extra minute for the Dead Reel, while cutting down some stupid exchange between two clueless presenters would be a very good idea. Everybody wins.

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^ I like that ending option.

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A similar article from The Wrap:

“It is a beloved segment, but I would much prefer we didn’t do it,” the Academy’s longtime (and now retired) executive director Bruce Davis told me years ago. “When you sit down to do the list, the last 15 or 20 cuts you make are people with substantial careers.

“You just feel like s— for days afterwards. And there is nothing you can say to somebody’s wife or daughter about why they didn’t make it into the sequence.”


The Oscars’ ‘In Memoriam’ Problem: Who’ll Make the Cut?

We're also in a world where they could have a 'broadcast cut' and then, in a bumper, direct people to an 'online cut' that features all the people who didn't make the broadcast. At least they'd be recognized by the Academy somewhere.