The Patriot Post® · Weekend Review: 'Alone Yet Not Alone'

By: Cal Thomas

In a world where Woody Allen can get a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes at the same time his adopted daughter accuses him of sexually abusing her when she was a child (Allen has repeatedly denied it), and where a film “The Wolf of Wall Street” sets a record for use of the F-word, it is a wonderment that an obscure, low-budget film called “Alone Yet Not Alone” has had its Best Original Song Oscar nomination withdrawn for allegedly violating ethical rules.

The Los Angeles Times writes that Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, “told The Times that the ‘key point’ in the academy’s nullification of (songwriter Bruce) Broughton’s nomination was its violation of Rule 5.3, requiring that the credits of composer and lyricist be removed from the DVD of eligible songs sent to members of the music branch.” …

Big-budget films spend large amounts of money campaigning for Oscars with full-page ads in Variety and other trade publications, as well as glitzy parties for Academy members. Studios send DVDs “for your consideration” to members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). Is any of that campaigning anonymous? How does a low-budget film with far fewer resources get noticed, if not by campaigning? Why does emailing voters, even if a technicality was breached, violate the rules when splashy ads, parties and the mailing of DVDs to Academy members do not? …

Does the secular left fear such a film might lead some people to rely on a power higher than the federal government? …

Whatever its merits, the title sounds more appealing than the 2005 Best Original Song winner, “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp.”

Maybe the only bad publicity is no publicity. The controversy over this song has lifted the film from obscurity. Regardless, the Academy should restore the song’s nomination because of the clear advantage in money, promotion – and, yes, campaigning – that other nominated songs have enjoyed. (Read the rest.)