The Lonely Island have posted a new video demo, titled “Why Not Me?”, which asks why popcorn movies never seem to get Oscar nominations anymore. According to the band’s video, they were asked to put together a song for the 90th Academy Awards ceremony, but their concept was considered “financially and logistically impossible,” so it wasn’t performed. And so, they wrote, “We thought we’d share the rough storyboards of what would have been a fully shot, star-studded music video of exorbitant cost.”
In the video, Thor, Wonder Woman, Pennywise, Aquaman, and even Girls Trip‘s Tiffany Haddish ask the Academy: “Why not me?” It’s no secret that the Oscars tend to snub popcorn fare, with superhero, horror, and other genre films typically receiving nominations in the technical categories only. There are some exceptions, such as this year’s The Shape of Water or The Lords of the Rings: Return of the King winning Best Picture, but there is a general consensus about what constitutes an “Oscar bait” film. And “Oscar bait” doesn’t generally include superheroes, horror movies, or female-focused comedies.
The individual heroes here—with a special guest appearance from the Chrises and The Snowman—all make their case for a nomination, pointing out the discrepancies between their films and the nominees. Vin Diesel even gets to show up and ask us what, exactly, is art.
Thor:
“Why not me? Do I not deserve a nomination? The reviews were raves to be sure / Fun for the whole family, look no farther than Thor … I battled Cate Blanchett!”
Wonder Woman:
“Why not me? / I left my family to fight for what’s right / Saved the world from the devil below / But I’m sure it was hard for Sir Daniel-Day Lewis to learn how to sew.”
Pennywise:
“Why not me? In All the Money in the World, they kidnapped one kid / And they got a nomination / I killed hundreds! … Oscars so white, but I guess not for me.”
Tiffany Haddish:
“I peed while hanging from a zipline / Meryl Streep has never done that!”
Aquaman:
“In The Shape of Water, I heard a lady boned a fish-man / But if you’re gonna bone a fish-man / Why not bone a fish like this man?”
Domenic (Vin Diesel) from the Fast & Furious franchise:
“What even is art?”
Enjoy this look at the bonanza that could have been.
(via Polygon; image: screengrab)
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