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Sensitive subject matter will be discussed. Proceed with caution.

The Academy Awards ceremony is one of the most publicized events in the entertainment industry. Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards Oscars to the most deserving movies and filmmakers. Ideally, the winners garner admiration and respect from onlookers. More often than not, though, the opposite occurs.

At times, this is because the Oscar winners failed to accurately reflect the mores of the times they were made in. Innovation often breeds controversy, and the Oscars are notorious for going with safe, "respectable" choices while ignoring better films that push the boundaries further. Other times, they're dismissed as elitist or even pretentious, since they cater more to perceived gatekeepers than ordinary moviegoers. The snubbing of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight for 2008's Best Picture race is a notable example. Despite the filmmakers' best intentions, some Oscar victors don't hold up under closer scrutiny.

Updated on April 5, 2024 by Robert Vaux and Angelo Delos Trinos: Old debates about which Oscar winners truly deserved their win or not resurface every year at Oscar time, while new arguments are brought to the table, and the latest crop of nominees are evaluated. This list has been updated to include more Oscar winners whose victories sparked more division than expected and expanded to include more context about their respective wins. Its formatting has been adjusted to meet current CBR guidelines.

25 Rex Harrison's Performance In My Fair Lady Has Aged Poorly

37th Academy Awards, 1965

Rex Harrison was a fine actor, but his performance in My Fair Lady didn't deserve the Oscar. That year's best performances came from Peter Sellers' multiple and now-iconic roles in Dr. Strangelove, which clearly outshone the field in hindsight. Additionally, Becket's two Oscar-nominated performances from Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton were leagues above Harrison's. The film hinges on the dynamic between the two, and their twin nominations split the vote.

Today, few people care about Harrison's character, Henry Higgins, whose patronizing attitude and desire to turn a working-class woman into a "presentable" member of society has not aged well. In addition, the movie's decision to cast Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle — instead of Julie Andrews, who had performed the role on Broadway — is still infamous. It's baffling how quickly easy fare like My Fair Lady can receive critical acclaim at the time, then fall by the wayside shortly thereafter.

24 Gary Oldman's Winston Churchill Feels By-The-Numbers In Retrospect

90th Academy Awards, 2018

Gary Oldman is best known for his immersive acting. His turn as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour was undoubtedly the strongest performance of his entire career, but it wasn't the best of its year. To detractors, Oldman just rehashed his clichéd shtick of overacting and yelling over everybody: turning his Winston Churchill into a dusty history lesson.

Darkest Hour also felt like it was yet another World War II-era drama engineered specifically to appease the Academy's voters. The fact that the Academy chose Oldman over Daniel Kaluuya's breakout performance in Get Out and what may very well be Daniel Day-Lewis' final movie in The Phantom didn't help Darkest Hour's reputation as another by-the-numbers Hollywood historical drama.

23 Out Of Africa Is Beautiful Imagery In Search Of A Story

58th Academy Awards, 1986

With Sydney Pollack directing Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, Out of Africa seemingly had the right ingredients for an Oscar-worthy picture. Sure enough, it went home with the lion's share of wins, including Best Picture. Unfortunately, it was a soporific movie about two white people's romance in Kenya, stretched across a bloated runtime and saddled with a mediocre performance from the normally more engaged Redford.

Even today, it seems incomprehensible that Out of Africa beat Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple. (At the time the Academy considered Spielberg a cinematic lightweight.) If the Academy wanted to reward Pollack, they should have done so for Tootsie in 1983. Out of Africa was also accused of robbing After Hours, Back to the Future, and Ran's Oscar chances, among others.

22 Argo Is A Win For Ben Affleck, But Not Best Picture Caliber

85th Academy Awards, 2013

Argo retold the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979 as a sensationalist blockbuster. The crisis was used for a by-the-numbers cross of a heist and escape movie. It's not that this historical incident wasn't worth remembering. There was just nothing interesting about Argo's execution.

In hindsight, Argo's Oscar campaign and victories are baffling. In an Oscars race featuring some of the best filmmakers of all time, it's a wonder that Argo was even nominated. It seemed as if the Academy let Argo win as a consolation prize for snubbing director/star Ben Affleck in the past.

21 Rocky Is Fun But A Cinematic Lightweight

49th Academy Awards, 1977

Rocky is a Philadelphia classic and a prime example of the underdog movie done right. However, Rocky paled in comparison to the movies of its era. Rocky became a classic franchise, but it's hard to deny that Rocky was an easy sports film that told viewers exactly how to feel.

Rocky's competition, meanwhile, included the savage indictment of a corrupt President only two years out of office (All the President's Men), a searing and prescient warning about the media (Network), and Martin Scorcese's decade-defining masterpiece Taxi Driver. Meanwhile, Rocky is an upbeat boxing movie but doesn't aspire to more than a feel-good crowd-pleaser. It could also be argued that Rocky was outdone by its legacy sequels Rocky Balboa as well as the Creed film series.

20 Forrest Gump Denies History In Favor Of Platitudes

67th Academy Awards, 1995

The 67th Academy Awards' Best Picture race was one of the best in its history. Many observers thought that the counterculture phenomenon Pulp Fiction or the emotionally rousing Stephen King adaptation The Shawshank Redemption would win. Instead, the idyllic and saccharine historical drama Forrest Gump won.

Modern viewers were more annoyed than charmed by Forrest's naïveté. What's more, Forrest Gump was an unchallenging melodrama that seemingly affirmed a conservative and self-centered view of American history. The main character is lionized for remaining unchanged and unchanging in the wake of profound circumstances. Unlike its Best Picture rivals, Forrest Gump's story and execution left a lot to be desired, and in a year so full of strong contenders, its victory looks all the more wrong-headed in retrospect.

19 Chariots Of Fire Can't Outrun Its Competition

54th Academy Awards, 1982

Movie historians point to Chariots of Fire's victory as one of the Academy's biggest missed opportunities. While it wasn't horrible, Chariots of Fire was a formulaic and predictably feel-good sports movie. Despite its lack of daring creativity and originality, Chariots of Fire bested the watershed blockbuster Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Chariots of Fire's victory was seen as the moment the Oscars permanently snubbed groundbreaking genre movies in favor of mediocre period dramas. Today, Chariots of Fire is only remembered for its cheesy theme and an oft-mocked running scene. Raiders of the Lost Ark, conversely, changed pop culture forever. It's hardly a new story for the Academy, but it's rarely been more blatant than here.

18 How Green Was My Valley Beat The Greatest Movie Ever Made

14th Academy Awards, 1942

Citizen Kane is universally hailed as one of the best movies of all time. Writer/director/star Orson Welles had a background in radio, and straight-up invented numerous filmmaking techniques that have since become standard. The Academy, however, thought differently: egged on by a smear campaign from newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, who correctly viewed it as a personal attack.

In 1942, Orson Welles' masterpiece was shut out by the now-vilified How Green Was My Valley. The movie was also humiliated during the ceremony, with people booing its mere mention. The John Ford potboiler is handsome and well-shot, but badly dated, and with nothing to say beyond a few easy platitudes.

17 The King's Speech Is Exactly As Dull As It Sounds

83rd Academy Awards, 2011

Today, The King's Speech is only remembered for how forgettable it is. The historical drama about King George V overcoming his speech impediment in time for World War II wasn't terrible. However, it paled when contrasted with its more daring competition. Adding to the vitriol was how The King's Speech seemed cynically designed to win Oscars. As far as detractors were concerned, the Academy still favored self-important dramas that mainstream viewers didn't care for. This was despite the criteria for Best Picture nominees being changed following The Reader's debacle.

And it may have led to one of the worst movies of all time. The King's Speech director Tom Hooper developed a reputation as an Oscar-caliber filmmaker, both here and with his follow-up Les Miserables (which netted Anne Hathaway an Oscar and Hugh Jackman a nomination). That in turn, led to Cats, an unmitigated disaster whose stench may last far longer than The King's Speech's Oscar glow did.

16 The Reader Was Designed Solely To Give Kate Winslet An Oscar

81st Academy Awards, 2009

In 2009, Kate Winslet won the Oscar for Best Actress. This was controversial not just because of Winslet's character (an illiterate Nazi), but because The Reader reinforced the accusations of the Academy's snobbery. Worse, Winslet's win was so calculated that she joked about pandering to the Oscars on Extras shortly before. The film itself seems to be geared specifically so she could win, and it's far from the only one to do so.

The Reader was a period romance between a man and a former Nazi death camp guard. By nominating The Reader for Best Picture, the Academy shut out genre game-changers like The Dark Knight and Pixar's animated masterpiece WALL-E. This caused such an uproar that the rules for Best Picture nominees were changed.

15 Brave Beat Superior Competition On Pedigree Alone

85th Academy Awards, 2013

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The Oscar for Best Animated Feature has been accused of being reserved for Disney and/or Pixar movies. In 2012, Brave seemingly proved this point. Brave was mediocre by Pixar's standards, and yet it won. In terms of animation and storytelling, Brave was as by-the-numbers as a predictably Oscar-winning animated movie could be.

Conversely, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman, The Pirates! Band of Misfits pushed stop-motion animation to the next level — as well as adopting sharp and unconventional narratives — while Wreck-It Ralph was praised for its unique spin on video game movies. Ironically, Brave's only noteworthy cultural footprint was Merida's cameo in Ralph Breaks the Internet. Otherwise, it's a definitive also-ran among Disney princess movies and was given the Oscar for no other reason than its pedigree.

14 Life Of Pi Has Become A Poster Child For Effects House Exploitation

85th Academy Awards, 2013

On its own, Life of Pi is a good adaptation of Yann Martel's book, and indeed, director Ang Lee won the Best Director Oscar for effectively delivering what many felt was an unfilmable narrative. It was notable for one of the few times the award has gone to someone other than a white man.

The controversy stemmed from how it was made and at whose expense. Life of Pi was praised for its cutting-edge visual effects and earned more than $600 million worldwide. Despite these, its effects studio, Rhythm & Hues Studios, filed for bankruptcy after the movie's release. Ang Lee left out the visual effects artists during his Best Director's acceptance speech. Worse, visual effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer's winning speech was cut off when he called for better work conditions. Life of Pi is now seen as one of the worst instances of Hollywood's disdain for visual effects artists.

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13 King Richard Is Eclipsed By The Will Smith Controversy

94th Academy Awards, 2022

King Richard is an inoffensive sports biopic. However, its Oscar became controversial when Best Actor winner Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock after he made a rude joke about his wife. Whether they defended Smith's actions or not, viewers agreed that this tarnished an otherwise safe movie's legacy.

The incident overshadowed King Richard and the already controversial 94th Academy Awards. The most controversial aspect was the Academy's and industry's disproportionate response towards Smith. The Oscar-winning actor was effectively blacklisted, despite worse people than Smith still being allowed to work freely. Whatever the film's merits — and the performance's — they have been lost in the wake of the scandal.

12 Manchester By The Sea Was Overshadowed By Accusations Against Its Star

89th Academy Awards, 2017

Manchester by the Sea was seen as Casey Affleck's breakout performance. The movie won him tons of praise and awards, ultimately leading to his Oscar for Best Actor. However, these were nullified almost immediately when his history of sexual harassment on the set of I'm Still Here resurfaced during the 2016-2017 Oscars race.

Affleck's Oscar victory was criticized as yet another example of the industry ignoring male abusers' misdeeds. Manchester by the Sea is a good drama, but its association with Affleck overshadowed whatever merits it had. Affleck notably withdrew from presenting the Oscar for Best Actress at the 90th Academy Awards following the backlash.

11 Shakespeare In Love Exemplified Miramax's Bad-Faith Oscar Campaigns

71st Academy Awards, 1999

In a vacuum, Shakespeare in Love was an inoffensive-if-disposable historical romance that re-imagined William Shakespeare's love life as the inspiration for some of his greatest works. As the 71st Academy Awards' big winner, however, the Shakespearean rom-com was a cynical ploy engineered to win Oscar trophies. Miramax's Harvey Weinstein became notorious for his take-no-prisoners approach to Oscar victories. Shakespeare in Love was the biggest beneficiary.

From the moment it hit cinemas, Shakespeare in Love's producers launched a zealous Oscar campaign for it while smearing Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. The underhanded tactics worked and were copied by other studios. In the long run, Shakespeare in Love's mediocrity was exposed and whatever merits it had were nullified. Sadly, it wasn't the only time Weinstein's ploys succeeded, casting a stain on this entire era of Oscar history.

10 American Beauty Reflects Shallow Entitlement And A Disgraced Star

72nd Academy Awards, 2000

The best that could be said about American Beauty is that it's a product of its time. Detractors felt that a middle-aged and well-to-do man's midlife crisis didn't deserve a whole movie, let alone Oscars. While it was seen as relatable in 2000 — depicting suburbia as a banal nightmare — the movie now feels entitled and out-of-touch.

The real controversy, however, stemmed from its Best Actor win. In 2017, Kevin Spacey was accused of sexually assaulting and harassing minors. Given Hollywood's history of enabling or covering up such abusers, Spacey's celebrity and legacy were reexamined. American Beauty aged the worst, especially because Spacey's character became infatuated with his teenage daughter's friend.

9 Bohemian Rhapsody Has Editing Issues And Worse

91st Academy Awards, 2019

Bohemian Rhapsody's nominations and wins drew tons of criticism, especially its Best Editing win. Many singled out and mocked the film's over-reliance on snappy cuts. Editor John Ottman has since apologized, admitting that Bohemian Rhapsody was not his best work. Additionally, the choice to lip-sync Freddie Mercury's vocals polarized viewers.

However, these weren't the biggest controversies surrounding the Oscar-winning biopic. During Bohemian Rhapsody's production, director Bryan Singer was fired for being noticeably absent from shooting days. During the very same week that Singer was let go, several suits were filed that accused him of sexual assault. Ottman notably didn't mention Singer in his acceptance speech, despite working with him as editor and music composer for the live-action X-Men movies and The Usual Suspects, among others. The film's other Academy Award winners — including star Rami Malek — similarly stayed silent about Singer in their acceptance speeches.

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8 The Pianist Is Tarnished By Its Fugitive Director

75th Academy Awards, 2003

Ever since it won in 2003, The Pianist was mired in controversy for reasons beyond its quality. Issues include Adrien Brody's insufferable method acting, the subject matter (i.e. The Holocaust) which more critical detractors saw as pandering to the Academy, and everything about director Roman Polanski whose troubling behavior stretches back decades.

Polanski won Best Director, despite his history of sexual assault and worse. Notably, he didn't attend the ceremony in Hollywood, Los Angeles because he faced (and continues to face) arrest if he entered the U.S. In light of the #MeToo movement and more, the Academy's love for The Pianist has been heavily lambasted and scrutinized. Once again, the clear choice was the crowd-pleaser: Peter Jackson's now-legendary directing of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Sadly, he had to wait another year — denied even a nomination for The Two Towers — while Polanski accepted the award in absentia for fear of arrest.

7 Annie Hall Isn't Star Wars, Even Without Woody Allen's Controversies

50th Academy Awards, 1978

Even momentarily ignoring director/writer/star Woody Allen's history of sexual indecency, Annie Hall didn't age well. What once was a quirky romance between a charming academic and a free-spirited woman has been exposed as self-pitying wish-fulfillment on Allen's part — especially since he cast himself as Alvy Singer.

Worse, Alvy's treatment of Annie is now recognized as objectification and emotional abuse. Allen's accusations of grooming made it impossible to see Alvy as anything but a self-insert. Annie Hall's Oscar legacy only gets worse with time thanks to the movie's negative retrospectives and Allen's many controversies. That would be the case even without the galaxy-sized elephant in the room: Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, which the Academy ignored that year for being excessively popular. Five decades later, it's clear which of the two is more innovative, more influential, and just plain better.

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6 Dances With Wolves Will Never Be Forgiven For Beating Goodfellas

63rd Academy Awards, 1991

In 1990, Dances with Wolves was heralded as a progressive blockbuster that finally gave Indigenous Americans (specifically the Lakota people) their due. Time, however, was not kind. The movie was mocked for its massive runtime and criticized for its patronizing story about a white man discovering himself by learning from benevolent POC.

Dances with Wolves wasn't the worst movie of its kind, but its history as director/star Kevin Costner's vanity project soured its retroactive reputation. (Costner's subsequent work behind the camera hasn't helped: becoming similarly mired in ponderous self-importances.) That said, many cinephiles really hate Dances with Wolves for stealing the thunder of a more deserving movie: Martin Scorsese's mobster epic Goodfellas, which is now considered one of the director's masterpieces.

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