Academy Awards code silences speech freedom

In a move aimed at curtailing abuses that have marred recent Oscar races, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts Sciences has mailed its membe...

In a move aimed at curtailing abuses that have marred recent Oscar races, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts 038; Sciences has mailed its members an eight-page code of ethics asking them to curb 8216;8216;manipulative and excessive8217;8217; Oscar campaigns that encourage 8216;8216;a public perception that perhaps an Oscar can be bought8217;8217;.

The new code requests the academy8217;s nearly 6,500 members to 8216;8216;voluntarily curtail their freedom of written and electronic speech during the awards season8217;8217;. Specifically, they are asked to refrain from writing op-ed pieces or give interviews praising or denigrating pictures that are 8216;8216;in play8217;8217; at the time. The academy said that in 8216;8216;the most recent decade, there have been monetary outlays and questionable tactics that have far outstripped anything in the past8217;8217;. Although the code does not spell out specific penalties, the pamphlet warns members that they face expulsion from the academy and that a film can be dropped from contention for the most serious breaches.

The pamphlet also notes that Oscar season parties aimed at lobbying members have become 8216;8216;one of the most distasteful aspects of the academy process8217;8217;. It asks members to curtail such events if their primary purpose is lobbying. 8216;8216;The simplest, most direct path to protecting the Academy Award process from debasement real or suspected would be to arrive at a point at which electioneering disappeared entirely,8217;8217; the code states. The code instructs studios to keep their print and television ads free of endorsements from academy members and says it is not appropriate to run ads that are designed to engender sympathy votes on behalf of filmmakers because of the strength of their bodies of work 8212; a clear reference to ads on behalf of Oscar-nominated director Martin Scorsese that were attributed to former academy President Robert Wise.

The academy said 8216;8216;a new and pernicious tactic8217;8217; had arisen in recent years involving the dissemination of potentially damaging rumors about pictures in contention. 8216;8216;Such strategies are completely indefensible, and there will be no tolerance of them by the academy,8217;8217; the pamphlet states. 8216;8216;I think there is a hope on the board that we can just remind people of some basic principles for conducting this annual exercise that always existed but maybe has been forgotten or ignored in recent years,8217;8217; said Bruce Davis, the academy8217;s executive director. LA-TWP