Every Oscars season this comes up and bothers the heck out of me. There’s always indignant lists of movies/people who were “snubbed.” And I get it, the internet is fueled by clicks and engagement which are fueled by anger but… To call these “snubs” is to either misunderstand the word snub or to misunderstand the voting process.

A snub implies a deliberate rejection. As if the Academy had a big meeting and said “screw you, Janet!” Which would be amazing but ain’t how the voting happens. It’s actually a ranked choice ballot voting system, which is very cool but also rewards strong feelings rather than consensus middle of the road picks.

And almost every time you read a snub article, they’re not talking “hey this person should win!” It’s usually “well, I think they’re better than the worst two slots.” Which, fair but those were probably big swings with some strong supporters, which are rewarded in a ranked choice system!

But beyond that, even in a two party contest, no one would say the United States snubbed Kamala Harris.

I dunno, just some thoughts, this seemed an appropriate place to share them. Thoughts? What am I getting wrong?