This probably happens a lot more than ever gets reported:
All the same, two Oscar voters privately admitted that they didn’t see “12 Years a Slave,” thinking it would be upsetting. But they said they voted for it anyway because, given the film’s social relevance, they felt obligated to do so.
Hopping on a pop culture bandwagon just because everybody else was doing so in spite of personally knowing nothing about it? Why does that sound so familiar?