Canine stars a bone of contention for Scorsese
Hugo director voices outrage at omission of Blackie the Doberman from awards race
It’s no secret that during Hollywood’s awards season, complex character roles often get overlooked in favour of more uplifting performances. But when Martin Scorsese saw such a slight befall his Hugo star, he was not about to slink away with his tail between his legs.
The esteemed filmmaker took a stand and barked loudly for that actor — and now Blackie the Doberman is at the centre of a heated award campaign. In an op-ed piece in Sunday’s Los
Angeles Times, Scorsese — whose 3-D adventure Hugo leads this year’s Academy Awards race with 11 nominations — voiced his outrage over the Doberman pinscher’s omission from nominations for the inaugural Golden Collar Awards.
“How could she not be nominated?” he wrote, noting the two nods — two! — for the plucky little terrier Uggie of The Artist fame. (Notably, the silent movie romance is second only to Hugo in Oscar nods with 10.) Oh, the injustice. So Scorsese — he of Taxi Driver and
Raging Bull fame — took the matter one step further, urging a write-in campaign for Blackie.
Dog News Daily, the online magazine behind the Golden Collars, took up the gauntlet Sunday, inviting fans of Blackie to make their preference known.
“We will do what Mr. Scorsese so eloquently requests of the L.A. Times readers as well as fans of HUGO and Dobermans everywhere,” the site’s editors wrote. “If Blackie receives 500 write-in ‘NOMINATE HUGO’S BLACKIE’ posts by Monday, Feb. 6 on
Dog News Daily’s FACEBOOK PAGE then the Golden Collar nominating committee will request that the panel of 14 judges add HUGO’S BLACKIE as the 6th Nominee in the Best Dog in a Theatrical Film category.”
Should Blackie be added to the ballot, she’ll be competing with Uggie, arguably this year’s highest-profile canine. The Jack Russell terrier received his Golden Collar nominations for performances in both The
Artist and Water for Elephants. Uggie, too, is at the centre of a social media campaign, instigated by Moveline on Facebook to urge an Oscar nod for the terrier.
In the campaign for Blackie, hardly a whimper. Until now. The muzzles are off and the dog race is on.
Also vying for top dog at the Feb. 13 Golden Collars are Cosmo ( Begin
ners), Denver ( 50/50) and Hummer ( Young Adult). But Scorsese is mad about Blackie.
In his op-ed piece, Scorsese pointed out the dynamics working against actors of the Doberman persuasion. “Jack Russell terriers are small and cute,” Scorsese reminded readers. “Dobermans are enormous and — handsome. More tellingly, Uggie plays a nice little mascot who does tricks and saves his master’s life in one of the films, while Blackie gives an uncompromising performance as a ferocious guard dog who terrorizes children. I’m sure you can see what I’m driving at.
“We all have fond memories of Rin Tin Tin and Lassie, the big stars, the heroes, but what about the anti-heroes? We have learned to accept the human anti-hero, but when it comes to dogs, I guess we still have a long way to go.”