Star Trek Wasn't Snubbed—and That's the Problem

Sorry, Trekkers, sci-fi hit isn't in Oscar discussion because it's a sci-fi hit

To be ignored is worse.

Welcome to Star Trek's universe.

When the Golden Globe nominations were announced last week, it didn't occur to us, not once, to see how many nods Star Trek did or didn't get. And when we compiled a list of movies judged to have been snubbed by Globe voters it didn't occur to us, not until a reminder, to include Star Trek.

Was this because Star Trek wasn't a good movie, with a Rotten Tomatoes score to rival its box-office success?  

Nope.

This was because Star Trek wasn't—and isn't—in the picture.

According to odds released this week by the gaming site Bodog.com, The White Ribbon, a film we'll bet you've never heard of (which, in fairness, doesn't make it bad), has a better chance at a Best Picture nomination than Star Trek, a film we bet you saw at least once (which, in fairness, doesn't make it unworthy).

Now, if it were just Star Trek being ignored, then maybe you chalk up the matter to taste. But you know it's not just Star Trek, and you know it's not just this year. It's Harry Potter movie after Bourne movie after Wedding Crashers.

If you want somebody to play the president, you call Morgan Freeman. If you want a Best Picture film, you nominate a period drama. Last year, a SAG voter told us as much. Last weekend, the Los Angeles Times reported as much. And if you think Oscars' expanded Best Picture field is going to change anything, think again—the Times story, depressingly, is about how the five extra nomination spots in all likelihood will be taken up by five more period dramas.

So what to do? A plan: Make a movie, accept your Academy invite, prevent the pod people from taking over your brain, and don't just vote for a period drama because it's a period drama. And don't just not vote for Star Trek because it's Star Trek, which is, by the way, a code we're convinced people today think they're adhering to—don't all villains think their misdeeds are just and justified?

Plan B is to pray. Pray that Star Trek starts buzzing, that it works its way into the Oscar discussion—only to be denied a Best Picture slot on nomination day.

All things considered, that would be an improvement.