Dr. Dilznick said:
I wonder how a beautifully shot, incredibly acted, well-written anti-gay film would be received by the Academy? Remember, it's the Hollywood powers-that-be that prop a film like this up for reasons other than artistic merit.
Hi Dr. Dilznick, you bring up a good question. I can't think of a movie that has that specific theme, and I doubt one could ever get produced for all sorts of reasons. Actors, directors, technicians,
etc. might see such a project as the end of their careers. Motion picture studios might fear the backlash the film would undoubtably receive. And no one really knows if the public would actually buy tickets to see the movie in enough quantity to make the project viable, even if it turned out to be the most amazing piece of work ever shot on film. Although Hollywood will occasionally tackle a tough, uncomfortable subject, they will do so only if a larger positive social message carries the film. (Consider, for example,
American History X.) That formula has been shown to work, and Hollywood does have an agenda: making money.
Back to your original question. Even if, hypothetically, a film with an anti-gay (or for that matter, an anti-Semitic or anti-African-American) theme could get produced, I don't believe that it would win many Academy Awards, and certainly not in any of the major categories, regardless of the quality of the film. The Oscars exist to advertise theatrical releases, and the last thing the Academy would do is risk alienating a segment of the movie-viewing audience. That's my take on this question, but I don't think we'll ever know the answer.