Cole Fitzgerald
Connector Contributor

The Academy Awards were last week, and Leonardo DiCaprio had another bad time. That pesky Oscar still eludes him. Surely the Gods of the Academy are frowning upon him. Cast out and dejected for the umpteenth time, it seems like poor Leo will never get an Oscar. I guess he will just have to keep being awesome in literally every movie he’s ever been in.

An Academy Award is a sign that someone somewhere thinks you are an outstanding actor. However, it is not a necessity of a great actor. There are literally tens of outstanding actors that remain Oscar-less. Just ask Gary Oldman. Dude’s amazing. He’s possibly one of the greatest actors of his generation, yet he continues to get hosed by the Academy. In the face of overwhelming apathy, Gary Oldman soldiers on. He doesn’t need an Oscar to validate his work, and his crusade is an example to us all that great actors don’t require an Oscar.

The amount of outstanding actors that don’t have Oscars is surprising. Edward Norton, John Goodman, Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr., and Liam Neeson are just a few of the big names that don’t have a little golden man of their own. An Academy Award is a nice thing to have. Actually, it’s probably the greatest achievement for an actor, but it certainly doesn’t define one. So as long as he keeps losing, Leo DiCaprio is going to keep giving his all in hopes of an Oscar, meaning more awesome movies for us all.

Does getting snubbed at the Oscars hurt? I assume so. Is it career defining? No. While Leo can’t seem to get his hands on one, he still puts on amazing performances in whatever movie he is in. He is among, if not the, greatest actor who remains Oscar-less. So while it is easy to rag on poor Leo, just remember that he is impossibly more successful than any of us will ever be, and probably more handsome too.