Where Is Woody Allen At Oscars 2014? Why The Director Is A No-Show At The Academy Awards [VIDEO]
If showing up is 80 percent of life, as Woody Allen once said, then the famed director kicks the bucket every Oscars night. Once again, Allen is expected to be a no-show for the 86th annual Academy Awards despite nominations for “Blue Jasmine.”
Allen did show up for the 2002 Oscars to introduce a “Love Letter to New York in the Movies” following the attacks of 9/11, but that was an exception. So why does the quirky, brilliant director, actor and writer avoid most award shows? It has nothing to do with his neurotic on-screen persona. Nor does it have to do with the renewed allegations of molestation from Dylan Farrow, his adopted daughter with Mia Farrow (although the controversy would be a convenient excuse for Allen to skip the Oscars). Yet it does have everything to do with his being uncomfortable about films being judged. Allen, 78, believes the art of filmmaking is so subjective that there’s no such thing as, say, a Best Picture or a Best Actress.
The 2011 film “Woody Allen: A Documentary” featured archival footage in which the director explained how he didn’t show up to the 1978 Oscars, where his “Annie Hall” won several awards including Best Director, Best Actress and Best Screenplay.
“I think what you get in awards is favoritism,” Allen said. “I mean, people can say, ‘My favorite movie was ‘Annie Hall.’ But the implication is that it’s the best movie and I don’t think you can make that judgment. Except for track -- track and field -- where one guy runs and you see that he wins, then it’s OK. I won those when I was younger and those were nice because I knew I deserved them.”
The first time Allen spoke about his aversion to awards shows was in 1974, when his sci-fi comedy “Sleeper” was snubbed by the Oscars.
“The whole concept of awards is silly,” Allen said, according to ABC News. “I cannot abide by the judgment of other people, because if you accept it when they say you deserve an award, then you have to accept it when they say you don’t.”
Watch Allen’s take on awards shows below:
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