In The Hollywood Reporter, Robert Osborne discusses Kate Winslet's faux supporting role in The Reader (the article is dated Jan. 15, but I felt it worth quoting here especially considering that Academy voters — for once — failed to go along with the "supporting actress" ruse):
"I'm in favor of actors getting all the awards and rewards they can comfortably haul away in a stretch limo, but it seems time for a reality check here. Who in Reader does the noble Kate support? She is the basic hub and thrust of the story. She's the one with top billing. Further, she plays her character throughout the entire movie, unlike teammates David Kross and Ralph Fiennes, who take turns playing younger-older versions of one person.
"Pretending that Winslet's Reader role is a supporting one negates why the Academy inaugurated a supporting category in the first place, which was to honor work by actors with only limited screen time.
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Osborne explains that the inclusion of Franchot Tone — a supporting player in the 1935 Oscar-winning drama Mutiny on the Bounty — in that year's best actor shortlist was possibly one of the reasons that led the Academy to create the best supporting actor/actress categories so as to give a fair chance to performers with relatively little screen time. After all, Tone had to compete against actors with considerably more screen time: Charles Laughton and Clark Gable also for Mutiny on the Bounty; eventual winner Victor McLaglen for The Informer.
"Bottom line: Does it really matter who gets nominated where? Yes, I think it does," Osborne concludes, "particularly if it means the inclusion of someone in a slot where they don't belong shuts the door on someone who genuinely deserves to be there."
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I thought Mr. Osborne's astute comments were right on the money. I thought Ms. Winslet was superb in THE READER. However as good as she was, it bothered me to see the talented actress winning awards over women who were giving bonafide supporting performances. Congratulations to AMPAS for rectifyng this.