Lee Daniel’s The Butler was the runaway darling of Hollywood and the media during the summer of 2013. The story of a longtime White House butler, which features Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, was a critical and box office blockbuster as it racked up nearly $120 million at the theaters.
Yet, The Butler was dismissed by the people in charge of the Golden Globe Awards, much the way Whitaker’s character was ignored and disrespected frequently by the U.S. presidents he toiled for. Fruitvale Station, another high-profile and critically-lauded film, also received no nods.
The Butler got three nominations at the upcoming 2014 Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG Awards) for best movie, best actor and best supporting actress.
12 Years a Slave, which earned four nominations at the SAG Award nominations, received another five at the Golden Globe.
Why did this happen?
Unlike 12 Years a Slave and Idris Elba’s Long Road to Freedom that was based on Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, The Butler and Fruitvale are American-themed movies that probably did not resonate with the Hollywood Foreign Press, a body of foreign writers and critics who decide on which movies get nominations for the Golden Globe Awards, which airs on Jan. 21 on NBC.
Some pundits cautioned against panic for fans of The Butler and Fruitvale Station. The 2014 Academy Awards is more in line with the Screen Actors’ Guild Awards.
