Over the past few months of the derby, my Oscarologist pal Tariq Khan shared his views on Kate Winslet and Amy Adams with Gold Derby readers. Now he pipes in with some devilishly fun thoughts on how Meryl Streep might have won best actress at the Oscars. Words below are Tariq's.

Poor Meryl Streep. She lost the Oscar for a 13th time, despite giving in "Doubt" what is arguably her best performance since 1982's "Sophie's Choice." (The film that earned her a second Academy Award.)

She's probably asking herself, "Whom did I have to kill to get another Oscar?"

It seems that the answer may lie in that very question.

Take a look at three other performances that won Oscars this year — Heath Ledger as the Joker in "The Dark Knight," Penelope Cruz as Maria Elena in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and Kate Winslet as Hanna Schmitz in "The Reader." What do they have in common? They're all evil characters, to varying degrees, of course. They either killed people (Ledger), tried to kill people (Cruz), or allowed innocent people to die (Winslet).

While Streep's Sister Aloysius was vicious and fiercely unlikable, she didn't commit or attempt to commit murder.

Looking at Oscar history over the past 20 years, it seems that this is something of a trend. Performers playing evil characters tend to win Oscars, while those playing merely unsympathetic characters do not.

Don't believe me? Here are 10 examples of evil leading to Oscar.

Anthony Hopkins in "The Silence of the Lambs" — Best Actor of 1991
Most observers gave the edge to Nick Nolte in "The Prince of Tides," saying that the academy would never honor a portrayal of a cannibal, no matter how charming. But the academy ate up the film and the performance, giving Hopkins both the prize and a standing ovation. Host Billy Crystal even joked to Hopkins during his opening monologue, "I'm having some of the academy over for dinner — care to join me?"

Kathy Bates in "Misery" — Best Actress of 1990
Few people thought that those dirty birdies in the academy would actually give the Oscar to the crazy killer in a film based on a Stephen King novel. Previous winner Anjelica Huston was favored for her turn in "The Grifters." Looking back, it makes sense. Huston was merely unpleasant while Bates was horrific — just ask James Caan about those ankles.

Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" — Best Supporting Actor of 2007
It's hard to imagine a character — or haircut — which truly exemplified evil like Bardem showed us in "No Country." Bardem killed mercilessly in both the film and the awards season, leaving his fellow nominees in the dust as he took to the stage to claim his statue on Oscar night.

Forest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland" — Best Actor of 2006
The gentlemanly Whitaker showed us a dark side we've never seen from him as brutal dictator Idi Amin. Despite a supporting role and only one nomination for the film, Whitaker trounced the competition in his first bid for Oscar.

Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood" — Best Actor of 2007
After winning nearly 20 years earlier for his heroic turn in "My Left Foot," Day-Lewis created a character so ruthless in "There Will Be Blood" that it seemed impossible that the same actor had also portrayed crippled writer Christie Brown. There was blood, and sure enough, there was Oscar.

Denzel Washington in "Training Day" — Best Actor of 2001
After losing for playing more noble characters in "Malcolm X" and "The Hurricane," Washington finally won a lead Oscar for going mean and murderous. Anyone training for Oscar, take note.

Catherine Zeta-Jones in "Chicago" — Best Supporting Actress of 2002
At first glance Velma may not seem that evil, but remember her line in the haunting "He Had It Coming?" Recalling the death of her husband and sister whom she had caught doing the "spread eagle," Zeta-Jones nonchalantly said, "It wasn't until later, when I was washing the blood off my hands I even knew they were dead." Note that Mrs. Douglas won the Oscar while her co-star Renee Zellweger lost. Zellweger's Roxy wasn't as evil as Velma, killing her lover only in a fit of rage and later expressing remorse over the act. That may work well with a jury, but not with Oscar voters.

Jeremy Irons in "Reversal of Fortune" — Best Actor of 1990
So maybe we never really knew for sure whether his Claus von Bulow had tried to kill wife Sunny, but academy members had their minds made up. They found both von Bulow and Irons guilty — von Bulow of attempted murder and Irons of flawless acting.

Charlize Theron in "Monster" — Best Actress of 2003
Perhaps I should have put her higher on the list, as her Aileen Wuornos serial killer did off seven men during her stint as a Florida prostitute. Still, the character did evoke sympathy as we saw how she had been abused. Fortunately for Theron, her crazed killer was found monstrous enough to allow her to win the Oscar with relative ease.