credit: The Northman
Stating that the Academy Awards have been less than popular over the years is a common statement these days. There are plenty of reasons why this has happened and a few that many people would be likely to point out. One reason that many people will usually fall back on, however, is that quite often, the movies that are nominated for various awards don’t appear to have the favor of those that were hoping to see another movie win due to the fact that it was visually stunning or carried such a great point to it that the audience was able to get behind the main point. Now, to be honest, this isn’t the People’s Choice awards, so only picking out the most popular movies among the bunch isn’t the best solution to the issue that has arisen from people refusing to watch the Oscars over the years since it only blockbusters were selected for awards, then it would be a disservice to any and all movies out there that have a shot at greatness but aren’t well known to many audiences. Unfortunately, those types of movies are what have been pushed quite often over the past several years, regardless if people know what they’re about or not. It might be time to find a way to balance this out just a little bit.
credit: Top Gun: Maverick
Not every fan favorite is worthy of an Oscar.
Just because a bunch of people like something or someone doesn’t mean they deserve an award. It’s been shown in the past that a movie might be deemed horrible, but fans still love it, or an actor is forced to improvise a great deal, and fans love it. Still, this isn’t quite enough to prove that a movie was masterful and told a great story, nor is it a great way to award movies. But it should be taken into consideration, if possible, that fans do respond to what they enjoy and that this matters when it comes to how popular a movie really is. Even putting such movies up for mention and a possible award often manages to get a lot of people excited since it means that one of their favorite movies might have impressed enough of the right people to be given high honors. Trying to get excited about movies that people have never heard of is kind of tough and doesn’t bode well for the ratings.
Pushing unknown movies is a good idea, but awarding them sounds kind of ridiculous if very few people have seen them.
It’s always smart to try and gain as much notoriety for unknown movies that fly under the radar, but awarding them when virtually no one has watched them makes a lot of people feel that the Academy is out of touch with the rest of society, since the movies that tend to get the most attention are those that are willing to slap society in the face with sensationalism and a great deal of action that is geared toward getting people to stop and watch for a while. Unknown movies that weren’t able to reach the being screen or perhaps were seen as a little too intellectual for many audiences aren’t always horrible, but elevating them in this manner is not only confusing, it’s borderline elitist. People will gravitate toward one movie or another given a chance and possibly due to word of mouth, but the point of awarding a movie with an Oscar is that it not only went above and beyond in terms of story, visuals, music, etc., but that it was also something that reached the people on a level that’s tough if not impossible to deny.
credit: Prey
Fan-favorite movies often deserve more credit than they receive.
Many have claimed that critics don’t look down on movies as much as they point out the faults and flaws within the stories they critique, but the truth is that many movies that fans love do have a lot of flaws. However, they still end up gaining the attention of the audience for one reason or another, and while critics might not always think so, the reason that people pay attention to blockbuster movies is that they deliver a story that is set firmly within the action, drama, and comedy, and possibly the horror, that they want to see. The masterful way in which many directors accomplish this, and therefore dominate the box office, doesn’t always appear to be taken into careful consideration during award season.
The criteria for winning an Oscar might need to be adjusted.
It’s not bound to happen any time soon, but it does feel as though the Oscars might need to remember that the opinions of the people who watch this show, and the movies they reward, need to be taken into consideration as well. Every movie submitted should be given a good look, but snubbing one movie for one reason or another, without due cause, is just one of the reasons why the Academy Awards can no longer call itself one of the most watched shows on TV.
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