The list of Oscar nominees is no longer gaining people’s attention.
In 2022, it seems to come back to public discussion since the accident made by Will Smith attach people’s eyes. However, do you know how many rules the Oscars have changed in recent years in order to break the rules?
Do you remember the last time people care about Oscars? Is it the oolong incident when awarding the best picture to La La Land five years ago, or is it that when Leonardo DiCaprio finally won the best actor six years ago?
In short, it is always the frills that keep people talking, nobody cares the award itself.
the best picture should be Moonlight at the 89th Academy Awards in 2017.
Oscars, a product under the Hollywood film industry, is essentially a recognition conference for professionals. In the previous best film list,Titanic, Schindler's List, The Silence of the Lambs and other works that have achieved both good box office and word of mouth have appeared.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
And since when did we no longer caring about the Oscar winners?
In next part, I will objectively analyze the changes it makes in recent years to present its current state.
The Oscars is keeping up with the times and trying to attach "political correctness"
In 2022, the committee has changed the rules, adding regulations for online nominated film in order to cater to the online distribution that are gradually dominating global market.
Also, they promulgated a new "Diversity and Inclusion Criteria", adding some rules for staffs and themes.
1. There shall be at least one minority or colored race in the cast of the nominees
2. Six or more minorities or colored races are required to be in key positions in the staff of the nominees
3. Nominees must cover at least one of the non-traditional topics including minorities, colored race , LGBTQIA+, etc.
So, it seems that they constantly revamping its criteria and trying to get closer to contemporary political correctness, isn't it?
Sidney Poitier, the first black actor to win the Best Actor for Lilies of the Field at the 32nd Oscar Awards in 1959
Washington Post has analyzed the Best Picture nominees over the past five years and compares it to the new policy. They finally concluded that most films meet these requirements, while a few cannot. For example, "La La Land," which "almost" wins the Best Picture, it lacks a colored race actor in its main cast.
Today, the Oscars want to make innovation, while these are nor created for better artistic exploration.
As a result, whenever a rule publishes, people will say that “they are always seek for political correctness”.
Conservative strategies don't work
While the Oscars committee is trying to make the criteria more diverse, it cannot change the situation that Oscars are no longer gaining attention. The fatal problem of the Hollywood is - the lack of originality. They barely make two kinds of films: mega-budget action blockbusters and "literary films" for the awards season.
For the latter choice, there is something to say. The Oscar committee also have their own preferences, and over the years, their aesthetics have become more and more solidified. As a result, there are more and more films “being made for several awards”. These kinds of movies focus on popular social issues so that easy to gain favor. The outstanding of Parasite is considered to be a typical example of Oscar's approach to the political correctness of "minority groups".
Bong Joon-ho wins four awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Film for "Parasite", which also becomes the first "non-English film" ever for Best Picture.
The Oscar Committee is overly approaching "political correctness" and ignoring the value brought by the film itself. This trend deserves attention.
People don't like to watch the Oscars ceremony anymore
The ratings of Oscars ceremony in 2021 have hit a record low, with only 9 million viewers watching the live broadcast, another 50% drop from the previous year. The Oscars have struggled with ratings in recent years since losing 19.83 million viewers from 2000 to 2018.
They also make many changes to boost ratings, such as proposing a "most popular movie" award, which is soon proved to fail.
But apparently, they have yet to learn their lesson. According to the latest news, Netizens can participate in voting on the Internet, and finally vote for a movie that is most popular among the audiences.
The Academy says it is designed to allow more people to participate in the Oscars and get an unprecedented experience.
But is it still helpful for this ceremony return to its original peak with such an entertaining experience?
They didn't give us an answer. Perhaps the question of how to bring a traditional film award back to the public is not one that can be solved by adding an interactive session. What the committee needs to reflect on should be the increasingly skewed selection criteria and the increasingly conservative production strategy in a globally depressed film market, resulting in a large number of good films being overlooked in the selection.
Perhaps the Oscar still has a long way to go.
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