The "Snub" of Fawcett

Fawcett & O'Neal Present at the Oscars

Why does it make so many angry? First, it was a deliberate choice to exclude Farrah from the memorial telecast. Fawcett made over fourteen films for theatrical distribution in ADDITION to all the films she made for television. She was also a voting member of the academy for over thirty years and a member for forty years. She, along with Ryan O-Neal, presented at the Oscars. Fawcett was nominated for a Golden Globe for Extremities and an Independent Spirit Award for her role in The Apostle.

Farrah Fawcett fought against the “type casting” that plagued her early career. She fought for and brought about roles for herself that helped her grow and stretch as an actress. She could have complacently coasted throughout the entire run of Charlie’s Angels and been satisfied with cameos and “giggle/jiggle” guest spots and lived an extremely wealthy and easy life. She didn’t.

She made deliberate choices that left people scratching their heads and wondering, “What is she thinking?”

Fawcett rose to fame in an age when internet didn’t exist. Before VCRs and plastic surgery was the rage for up and coming starlets, Fawcett defied gravity in a red bathing suit and tussled blonde hair and captured the spirit of all that was wholesome and beautiful with a thousand watts of light smile but behind that smile was a smart and determined lady who new the value of her percentages.

It was not happenstance that Fawcett left Charlie’s Angels and a deal was struck for recurring appearances. She didn’t sign her contract. Yes, Lee Majors wanted her home but it was her determination to get her cut that left that contract unsigned.

That’s not the action of someone who is simple minded.

Fast forward and you now have someone who determined via committee that Fawcett shouldn’t be in the memorial because she is a “television” actress. She was dismissed and belittled (as if being just a television actor is beneath the academy, where did George Clooney get his start?) and it was decided that she wouldn’t be included.

It was not only callous and uncontainable, it was wrong.

Fawcett fought her way onto the silver screen and she fought for her place in the Academy as an actor. She deserved to be recognized for her strengths as an artist alongside her peers. She did not deserve to be omitted especially by conscious choice.

It would be easier to understand if it were an oversight but the deliberation and decisive statements made by the Academy show a level of self inflated superiority that leave a bad taste long after the words have been read and processed.