Did you know: Dorothy Zbornak never existed. Neither did Jill Munroe on Charlie's Angels. You see, America, we willed such iconic figures into existence, by sheer force of will, probably fueled by our disproportionate booze-to-food intake--just in time for this year's Oscars. At least this is what the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science wants us to believe. Currently being taken to task for egregiously omitting both Bea Arthur and Farrah Fawcett from their Demi Moore-hosted "In Memoriam" tribute, the AMPAS are playing an unlikely card now: The "If We Pretend They Never Existed, No One Will Care" card.

The handling of this gaffe couldn't be sloppier. According to E! Online, AMPAS head flack Leslie Unger had this to say:

I would not say that it was an oversight. No matter how carefully and how conscientiously people address who is included, there are people who just simply can't be.

Although it was posited in response to the question of Fawcett's omission, it works as a blanket statement to address other performers, like Arthur. Moreover, it's a bold, existential statement. Two American women who have helped shape contemporary culture and in their own way, even affected gender politics, are now being retroactively rubbished--or at the very least, not properly honored. Also worth noting: Although Fawcett is widely revered for her TV work, she received attention for her film forays as well, most notably in the form of a 1998 Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in The Apostle.

It's also such a boneheaded statement that it compels us to agree with Joy Behar who on The View pointed out the disparity between contributions by Fawcett and Arthur in film and those by the late King of Pop--who was celebrated in the montage: "She was a movie actress. Michael Jackson was lorded. He made one movie. "