Oprah, James Earl Jones to Receive Honorary Oscars

The Academy has spoken, and the recipients of the honorary awards at the 2012 Oscars are decided. It will be daytime talk show queen Oprah Winfrey and the Vader-voicing James Earl Jones who will receive honorary Oscars, along with makeup artist Dick Smith.

Jones is a pretty clear choice at this point. The man has completed a long and storied career in both film and television, with appearances in such classics as "Field of Dreams" and "Star Wars." Jones has an Oscar nomination under his belt for "The Great White Hope," but no wins. He also received the Lifetime Acheievement Award from the Screen Actor's Guild at the 2009 ceremony.

Oprah is a little more puzzling. First of all, she's mostly involved in television, and the Oscars only honor film...so why would they be reaching over to honor a TV talk show host?

Also, as Deadline points out, the award being given to Oprah is for humanitarian efforts, and though Oprah has made plenty of those in the past, she was recently pinned with a scandal as the school she opened in Africa for disadvantaged girls was abusing its students.

There's likely to be a lot of talk on both sides of the controversial decision to hand the Oscar to Oprah. Luckily, I don't think anyone will be complaining about the voice of Vader getting his.