Any number of you who read this post yesterday wrote to remind me that Stacey Abrams, who was among those nominated for a Voiceover Emmy, is not even a live-action actress. She's a politician and activist and former member of the Georgia House of Representatives. I probably should have said something about that but my mind was on my main thesis, which is that the nominators were nominating celebrities instead of real voice actors.
Also, my view is not that it's wrong to nominate famous people or on-camera performers. Some of them, as I noted, occasionally give outstanding performances. I think it's wrong to favor them to the exclusion of folks who are first and foremost voiceover artists. I have no idea what show Ms. Abrams was nominated for and I'm pretty sure I never saw it…so I have no opinion on whether her performance was Emmy-worthy. The problem for me is not Stacey Abrams. It's a judging process that appears to overlook superlative work done by lesser-knowns.
I should probably have said something else here which I think I've said before on this blog. I think people take awards and nominations and especially supposed "snubs" way too seriously. I served briefly on a committee for the TV Academy that was trying to survey the process and recommend improvements to it. As far as I know, the committee never came to agreement on anything that was worth submitting to the Board of Governors or whoever we supposedly were advising.
What I learned was how random and political and (most of all) subjective the process was. Expecting it to yield the nominees and winners you think are wise decisions is like expecting a bunch of pussycats to do what you want them to do. They might…but only by chance. I do not disdain the Emmys or any awards. I just think people take them too seriously. Maybe in this case, I did.