Charlie's Eternal Sunshine

I just read the screenplay for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and I must say, Kaufman's version is much darker and more pessimistic than what finally made it to film. The meat of the movie is mostly the same, but the parts that got excluded really throw a completely different spin on the whole story. I wonder, now, since the Academy gave the film the Best Screenplay Oscar, if they give out that award based on reading actual scripts, or based on watching the film, which, obviously, is very different. I hope they actually read screenplays, but for some reason, I doubt this very much. Anyone have a clue?