Who's Blaming Sex for Michael Fassbender's Oscar Snub? [VIDEO]

When this year's Oscar nominations were announced, one person's name was expected to be called for the Best Actor category. Michal Fassbender, who gave one of the best performances of 2011 was left of the nominee's list. His snub shocked film fans and bevy of Fassbender supporters (known as Fassinators) took to the web to protest. A month has passed since the actor was passed over for a nomination but some have yet to let it go. Now the film's director, Steve McQueen is expressing his disdain for Academy voters and for America in general. McQueen blamed America's uptight nature when it comes to sexuality on-screen. The NC-17 film's raw subject matter and nudity made many uncomfortable. The director stated:

In America they're too scared of sex, that's why he wasn't nominated. If you look at the best actor list you're saying, 'Michael Fassbender is not on that list? It's kind of crazy. But that's how it is, it's an American award, let them have it. He's a once in a generation actor. He's an actor who can transform and transcend, and you actually believe him, so that's the kind of guy he is.

Who could argue with him? In Europe and Lain America, films portray sexuality in a manner that is honest while the US usually shuns explicit ventures and lets them fade quietly in a limited number of theaters. 'Shame' follows Brandon (Fassbender), a member of the corporate world who is suffering from a crippling sex addiction. His pattern of obsessively watching porn and bedding prostitutes is disrupted when his unstable sister (Carey Mulligan) comes to stay with him.

'Shame is one of three collaborations between the actor and McQueen. In 2008 they made the harrowing political drama 'Hunger'. This year, Fassbender will star in the British filmmaker's next project, '12 Years as a Slave', about a man living in New York in the mid-1900's, who is sold into slavery. Brad Pitt is also set to star.