Best Supporting Actress Snub: Oprah Winfrey

I did not like THE BUTLER. I disliked it before I even sat down to watch it. I found the trailer to be emotionally manipulative pablum and was not proven wrong by the watching the movie itself. That being said, I did recognize Oprah Winfrey’s performance as the titular domestic’s wife. As Gloria Gaines, Winfrey was the lone three-dimensional character to push her way through the saccharine trip through sanitized racial U.S. history. She was fierce and protective but also flawed and selfish. A movie that focused on The Butler’s Complicated Wife would have been far more enjoyable and that is owed to the great performance that Winfrey gave in the role.