Why Leo didn’t deserve to win

OPINION - ALSO CONTAINS THE REVENANT SPOILERS

SO he’s finally done it. Leo has won the little gold man so many thought was “owed” to him. That one of the greatest injustices in recent Oscar history was that Leonardo DiCaprio was not an “Oscar winner”.

Pfft.
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I’ve been dogged with “You don’t deserve to win” and “Why do you hate life?” all day, whenever I made my case about Leo. Apparently, he is universally loved and any bad word against him is blasphemy. And that I am a horrible person.

So here are the two main reasons people have put forward about why Leo deserved his Oscar win today and why I think those arguments are bullsh*t.

1. He worked so hard on The Revenant

Much has been made of Leo’s time on the set of The Revenant — they shot in freezing cold temperatures, he stood in the middle of near-frozen lakes, he ate RAW BISON LIVER.

So what?

If Oscars are handed out purely for the crappy time thespians have on set, then the performers in The Human Centipede probably deserve an Academy Award or two. And, as an anonymous Oscar voter pointed out to the Hollywood Reporter, Leo got paid millions.

Oscars are supposed to be handed out for the actor’s performance on screen. In his defence, I thought Leo was probably a little more restrained than I expected him to be, but not by much.

And his character, Hugh Glass, was thinly drawn (less his fault, more Alejandro G. Inarritu and Mark L. Smith’s) with an unconvincing motivation to hunt down his nemesis.


Not this one.Source:AP


Oscar-worthy performance right here.Source:Supplied

Yes, Tom Hardy’s character (spoiler alert) killed Leo’s on-screen son and then left him for dead. Which sounds motivation enough on paper but wasn’t translated on screen. Leo had no chemistry with the actor playing his son so you never believed that relationship, which meant there was no emotional resonance to his quest. And, really, can you blame Tom Hardy’s character for wanting to leave him behind? I would have too in those circumstances.
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It was a two-dimensional portrayal of a two-dimensional character that mostly relied on a lot of eye-popping and grunting.

While the Best Actor field wasn’t as strong this year as it has been previously (the performances, not the actors), Leo’s was absolutely not the standout choice despite his near 1:1 odds.

Michael Fassbender gave a much more nuanced performance as Steve Jobs. Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl) and Matt Damon (The Martian) also had considerable chops.

2. But he’s been nominated (and cheated) so many times before

Including this year, Leo has been nominated six times — five times for acting and once for producing. Of those other nominations — Wolf of Wall Street, Blood Diamond,The Aviator and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape — he probably should’ve won forGilbert Grape. He should’ve won over Tommy Lee Jones at any rate.

He was pretty good in The Aviator as well but actual winner Jamie Foxx was better.

While he is undeniably a good actor, Leo has a predilection for overacting. Before you curse me and all my future descendants, think about it. There’s this face (you know the one) that he makes in every role. I think there are even memes built around this.


Yeah, this face.Source:Supplied

The Wolf of Wall Street was Leo overacting at its peak — ugh, that ridiculously long Quaaludes scene. Whenever I’m watching him on-screen, I can’t get away from the fact that I’m watching Leo rather than his character.

But just because he missed out on the gong for Gilbert Grape in 1994, doesn’t mean you should get one for something else two decades later if that performance doesn’t stand up on its own.

I read somewhere else last week that Leo deserves to win because of his overall body of work. Um, no. That’s what a lifetime achievement award is for.

And Leo’s not even the only one who’s been “cheated” so many times before. An analysis done by FiveThirtyEight of contemporary actors who’ve been nominated three times or more for acting awards and have never won found that Matt Damon is the actor who most “deserves” a win. Leo was 22nd on the list.

The illustrious names in front of him? Amy Adams. Mark Ruffalo. Laura Linney. Glenn Close. Annette Bening. Michelle Williams. Edward Norton.

All actors with incredible range and talent. Where are their popular uprisings to bag them “their” Oscar?

And there is an endless list of actors who never picked up an Oscar, or finally nabbed one well into their twilight. Paul Newman won on his eighth go when he was recognised at the age of 62. Alfred Hitchcock never won a competitive Oscar over a whole career of glittering masterpieces. Peter O’Toole was nominated eight times and only ever picked up an honorary award.

But, somehow, Leo, at the age of 41, was “overdue”? Go figure.

WHAT DO YOU RECKON? SYMPATHY VOTE OR DESERVED WINNER? TELL US WHAT YOU THINK BELOW.

Check out Leo and other celebs at the 2016 Oscars afterparties below:
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photo gallery2016 Oscars: Afterparty snaps


Leo’s night... Best Actor winner for 2016 Leonardo Dicaprio poses with host Chris Rock at the 2016 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. Picture: Kevin Mazur/VF16/WireImage