Disclaimer: This article is based on actual news from the real world – honestly! However, it has been sprinkled with a healthy dose of satire.
It takes a lot these days for an Academy Awards campaign to feel especially shameless, but a new horror flick might just take the cake – or dog treat, in this case. The new scary movie, “Good Boy”, tells a haunted home story from the perspective of a dog and stars Indy, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, which is one of the best kinds of Duck Tolling Retrievers out there.
"Is this red carpet edible? No? Oh, great… how exciting then for me to be here." (screenthrill/Instagram)
As intriguing as the film’s premise sounds, its letter to the Academy pushing for Indy to be nominated for an Oscar seems just as silly, and clearly a ploy for publicity that seems to be working. IFC, which is behind the movie, has written a letter to the Academy in the first person from Indy’s point of view, arguing that animals should be considered for Oscars – in this case, for Indy, in the Best Actor category. Of course, if the Oscars were to start including animals, it might be one of the more embarrassing things that the Academy has done – right behind annually giving awards to the wrong actors and filmmakers 95 percent of the time.
Indy, who is owned by the movie’s director and a producer, apparently had some follow-up questions. “While this letter is a cute idea, I can’t approve of it. For one thing, it has come to my attention that the Oscar statue cannot be eaten, which makes it practically useless to me. I guess I could bury it in a yard, but I’d rather just be given lots of delicious treats and food, which are much more interesting to me than some golden statue that everyone knows is all about politics and the Academy being stuck in a never-ending cycle of trying to make up for past mistakes. I mean, come on, folks.”
Was the film's letter to the Academy cute or shameless? Why not both! (screenthrill/Instagram)
In the wagging-tongue-in-cheek letter to the Academy, the producers noted some amazing animal acting achievements that have occurred throughout Hollywood history: “How many great performances must go overlooked before the Academy throws us a bone?” Movies cited included “White Fang”, “Free Willy”, “The Birds”, and, of course, “Babe”. While the sequel “Babe: Pig in the City” was not explicitly mentioned, it obviously belongs high up on the list as well.
“Of course, the letter conveniently left out the nepotism involved in the case of Indy,” said a man who loves movies, perhaps a bit too much according to many of his close relatives. He added, “I guess even in the animal kingdom, it’s all about who you know.”
This story is based on fully factual news, but if we got it wrong, blame these guys, we’re just here to make it funny.
