First 10 Minutes Of 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'

No Oscar nominee has faced a greater backlash this awards season than “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” The winner of TIFF’s People Choice Award — often an augur of Oscar glory — has since faced considerable scrutiny for its depiction of racial prejudice. Coming under particularly close inspection is Sam Rockwell‘s Oscar nominated portrayal of Dixon, a bigoted southern cop who admits to torturing black men in his custody, and who some feel gets too sympathetic a portrayal. But what do actual Oscar voters think?

Well, Film Twitter might be arguing amongst themselves, but as per usual, it’s an echo chamber. Vulture talked to fourteen new members of the Academy — added after a very vocal push for more diversity — who are voting this year, and ‘Ebbing’ appears to be doing just fine with voters.

“I have to say my favorite is ‘Three Billboards,’” said one black voter. “It’s super well-written and I love all the performances.”

“I understand why people don’t like [Rockwell’s] character, but that doesn’t mean the movie is racist — I don’t buy into all of that stuff at all. I think that Twitter is a wonderful thing, but it’s also an incredibly dangerous thing, because it just stirs people up who then react in very immediate ways without really thinking about the nuance,” said another voter.

When it comes to Rockwell’s character specifically, one voter saw the nuance in the portrayal. “Many people don’t think he transitions far enough or the transition isn’t enough of an expunging of his sins, but I didn’t care,” this voter of color said. “I believe there are racists and morons and dangerous people, and still at the end of the day, they’re people. I’m not uninterested in watching their stories and seeing them onscreen if the story is engaging enough, and it doesn’t have to have redemption for them. It can remain complex and a head-scratcher.”

Well, the debate won’t be ending before Oscar night, but if you’ve somehow skipped ‘Ebbing’ until now, the first ten, filthy minutes are online to peruse. If you dig it, the film on digital, Blu-ray, and DVD.