February 6, 2019
By Ria Bhandarkar and Talia Blatt
Will I watch the Oscars this year?
Yeah, probably.
On Tuesday Jan. 22, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 91st Academy Awards, or the Oscars. Once again, the organization favored a small set of artsy period dramas and political thrillers.
Black Panther, the highest grossing American film of 2018, was nominated for Best Picture, becoming the first superhero movie to get a nod in the category. Its competitors for the award include the Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper reboot of a A Star is Born, the provocative and thoughtful BlacKkKlansman and the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
The inclusion of several blockbusters is a welcome change: For years, the Academy has faced criticism for prioritizing obscure, overly intellectual films. In August of last year, the Academy announced a new category: Best Popular Film. However, there were no guidelines for what constituted a “popular film,” and many saw the move as a clear ploy to appease action film fans and boost ratings without changing the the nature of the coveted Best Picture category. The Best Popular Film category was quickly scrapped later that month.
After that blunder, another crisis soon erupted. The host for the ceremony, Kevin Hart, dropped out of the gig after his homophobic tweets resurfaced. Instead of attempting to secure a new host, the Academy has decided to hold the first hostless ceremony in 30 years. Although this development may seem trivial, it does mean that there will be no humor and wit to break up an endless series of tearful, saccharine speeches.
If I do decide not to tune in, I probably won’t be alone. Ratings have plummeted in recent years: 2018 was a record low, with fewer than 30 million people watching. That’s because of a fundamental disconnect between people who comprise the Academy and people who watch movies. The Academy is full of highbrow filmmakers who don’t care about the movies enjoyed by us hoi polloi. And moviegoers no longer see the point in tuning into a show that only celebrates things they don’t want to watch. The absence of a host will likely exacerbate this issue because viewers won’t even have the promise of a hilarious, more down-to-earth comedian to bridge the gap.
There have been some whispers about not televising future Oscars’ ceremonies. I don’t think that’s the answer, because I think it’s important to highlight low-budget but aesthetically or intellectually rigorous films such as recent Best Picture winners Moonlight and The Shape of Water.
I think there are two real problems that are solvable, and don’t require eliminating the whole extravaganza.
First is representation: Despite the recognition of movies that feature people of color and confront racism, such as Green Book and If Beale Street Could Talk, the 2015 #OscarsSoWhite controversy remains relevant, and racial and gender disparities remain prominent. For example, the Best Director category yet again doesn’t feature a single female director.
Second is the false dichotomy between blockbusters and culturally valuable films, a binary perhaps best smashed by Black Panther, which subverted normative depictions of superheroes and supervillains, introduced themes of Pan-Africanism and neocolonialism, and fomented discussions of race, while also sweeping the box office and being a darn good time. We can appreciate movies that are fun and meaningful, and it’s about time the Academy does too.
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