Do you like facts? I know I do! That’s why I get a little obsessed when I notice published mistakes, especially when it’s about something really important, like a movie.
I was writing an article about Raging Bull a couple weeks ago, and in the course of my online browsing I read the movie’s Wikipedia entry. The paragraph under “Awards” caught my attention. It has since been changed slightly (by me), but here’s what it said at the time:
Raging Bull was nominated for eight Academy Awards (including Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Sound, and Editing) at the 1980 Academy Awards. However, when it was revealed that John Hinckley, Jr.’s assassination attempt of the then president Ronald Reagan had been influenced by his love for Taxi Driver, this hurt the chances for the film to pick up the Oscar. Out of fear of being attacked, Scorsese went to the ceremony with FBI bodyguards disguised as guests who escorted him out before the announcement of the Academy Award for Best Picture was made - the winner being Ordinary People.
Huh! I thought. Here is a detail of Oscar lore that I’d never heard before. I knew about John Hinckley’s obsession with Taxi Driver and Jodie Foster, of course, but I’d never realized the assassination attempt had coincided with Raging Bull being nominated for Oscars, much less that backlash against Martin Scorsese had been perceived as hurting the movie’s chances. It sounded reasonable, though. It reminded me of a few years ago, when Eddie Murphy’s shot at winning for Dreamgirls might have been sunk by Norbit being released just as Oscar voters were filling out their ballots.
Filed under: Awards, Oscar Watch
Continue reading The Time I Got Obsessed with a ‘Raging Bull’ Inaccuracy
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You can find the original article and other great content at this URL: http://www.cinematical.com/2010/07/14/the-time-i-got-obsessed-with-a-raging-bull-inaccuracy/
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