For Your Consideration: Will the Academy Finally Recognize the 'Harry Potter' Franchise?

For Your Consideration: Will the Academy Finally Recognize the 'Harry Potter' Franchise?

: Published on Monday, December 12 2011; Written by Katie Marzullo

It’s certainly not unprecedented that a movie or movies defy so many conventions and categories that an institution will just make up an award to bestow upon them. Such was the case this weekend when the American Film Institute deemed it necessary to recognize The Artist separately from all the other outstanding films this year and give it its own special award.

Also, receiving a special nod from the AFI this year is the Harry Potter film series – yes, the entire series! The last film was most certainly an achievement all on its own, but when you take the entire body of work into account, it truly is remarkable! I’ve mused on this before and won’t bore you with my gushing again... However, I think this is as good a time as any to bring up an important issue:

HARRY POTTER MUST GET OSCAR RECOGNITION!

Billboards have already started popping up all over L.A., and Warner Bros. is definitely ramping up their For Your Consideration campaign to get Deathly Hallows: Part 2 some Oscar love. Daniel Radcliffe has even gone on record to state that Alan Rickman deserves a nomination for his heartbreaking, conflicted performance in the final movie, where we all discover that the layers beneath Severus Snape’s grouchy exterior run oh-so deep. Yes, Rickman definitely deserves a nod, but WB is also gunning for nominations in the Best Director category (David Yates), Adapted Screenplay (Steve Kloves), Lead Actor (Radcliffe and Rupert Grint), Supporting Actor (Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, John Hurt, Matthew Lewis, Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, and, of course, Rickman), Lead Actress (Emma Watson), Supporting Actress (Helena Bonham Carter and Maggie Smith), techie categories such as Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Editing, Make-up, and Score, and, naturally, the big one, Best Picture.

Will Academy voters take notice? It’s been 10 years, and the cumulative number of Oscar nominations the whole series has received is 9, all in technical categories, and no wins. Let’s hope that, much like The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, the major hardware will start rolling in for the final picture as a testament to the achievements of the entire franchise.

OR the Academy can break out a special award just for Harry Potter, like the AFI did.