It’s something we weren’t in a condition to look forward to: In the lead-up to this year’s Oscars TV show on March 27, the Academy made a number of decisions that were, dare I say… good. ?
As far as these usually happen, the intercepting medium of Oscar nominations are strong. Or, at least, not as angry as usual. (How generous a person feels in that regard may depend on which side of the bed they wake up in the morning — or Lady Gaga’s fandom level.)
After several years without a servernot to mention weeks of speculation over who will take over the task because of its historic ingratitude, the three-woman group of Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes was announced this week as this year’s co-star. While there are people who keep fantasies — Tom Holland and Zendaya — or, it turns out, logistically untenable perfect choices — There are only murders in the building the trio of Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez — this unexpected grouping was an inspiring choice. They are three seasoned professionals, funny, well-liked and will take the job seriously.
What’s frustrating, then, is why the Academy is trying to thwart any of its goodwill, especially since it’s been so difficult in recent years. (evidence ONE, REMOVEand CZ.)
This year, the Academy has prepared the materials to produce an entertaining and popular show. (Good, very popular nominations are eye candy! Proof that member diversity efforts have worked! Funny, movie-loving host! Beyoncé!) a series of crazy decisions crazy and desperate to hang out with some fanciful audience that they think it’s losing by producing an Oscars TV show instead of the MTV Movie Awards.
As Oscarolog researcher Joe Reid recently tweeted In the wake of the terrifying decisions announced this week, the Academy became “the absolute most insecure girl in the party.” Babe, you are Oscar. You should be the most confident person in the room. Why do you keep making yourself like this?
Like all things on television, ratings for the Academy Awards have dropped over the past decade. That is clearly not something that networks or an awards organization want to confront. Does that mean lack of relevance? Did they do something to the TV channel to upset the public? Worse yet, is the movie dead?
The panic is understandable, but misplaced — or at least misunderstood. The rating is down because the rating is down. We are no longer monocultures. The stuff that people usually watch on Sunday night once a year because it’s the only content and people talk about it the next day won’t attract those people anymore, because there’s a lot (YES! MANY!) other things and people will talk about hundreds of other things the next day.
Maybe, technically speaking, that means fewer people care about the Oscars and they are, again, technically, less relevant. But that is the case with everything today. It’s not personal, Oscar!
However, the Academy’s response to this has not been to confront the realities of the media landscape and focus on creating a great show. It is making outrageous decisions that affect millions of invisible, mythical people, each time shooting themselves in the foot and damaging the integrity of the show as well as any popularity. which lasts.
That seems like an odd strategy: to give elements of the show to people who show no interest in watching it. However, that was the strategy the Academy had used for years.
There’s a pendulum that swings back and forth between extremes each year, with the show reacting to what audiences think it wants and then retreating in the other direction when that doesn’t work out. We needed to appeal to a younger audience, so hire Anne Hathaway and James Franco! It’s awful, so get Billy Crystal back! That’s way too old-fashioned, so bring someone as sharp as Seth MacFarlane! That’s tasteless, so find someone who doesn’t offend, like Ellen! It’s too long, so let’s cut the prize… but that’s disrespectful, so let’s cut the performances… but that’s boring, so let’s go back to a longer show ! It is endless. It’s tiring.
But that doesn’t compare to the brand-damaging anarchy created by the fallacy that all these viewership and relevance woes will be solved if they can figure out how. to honor “popular” movies.
There was an almost damned mutiny in Hollywood four years ago when the idea was Floating for the “Popcorn Award” category awards huge blockbusters that often top the box office but don’t appear on the Best Picture shortlist. (Because, um, they’re not the best…). The whole concept is cynical. That is disrespect.
It was born from the idea that if those giant movies win awards during showtimes, the people who bought tickets to see them will follow the show. The whole thing is not just the opposite of what the Oscars are supposed to stand for – a curated and inclusive ceremony voted on by experts, artists and industry insiders. It undermines its own legitimacy, showing that the Academy hasn’t done its job properly because these films weren’t nominated. Worse still, the movies are smaller already being nominated is not important to the bottom line of the organization.
But more than any of that, the stunt, which was canceled after outrage before it even aired, was never needed in the first place. The Academy Awards celebrate a year in the field of film. The main stars of the biggest blockbusters of the year, almost as a rule, are invited to participate in the TV show, and play a key role in marketing, red carpet coverage and post-revolutionary buzz. ceremony.
It doesn’t take a cheap and patronizing catalog to be invented for them to appear. And as the drop in ratings proved, their year-to-date presence doesn’t do much to stop a dwindling viewership. Even if these blockbusters are nominated for Best Picture, it doesn’t change the rotation; Joker earned more than $1 billion and was the most nominated film at the 2020 Oscars, also the most underrated TV series in history.
It’s all a bit of facepalm this week that the Academy is at it again.
On Monday, they announced their decision to be immediately mocked to introduce what shamefully is called #OscarsFanFavorite. The idea is that Twitter users can vote for their favorite movie of 2021, regardless of whether it is nominated for any Oscars, using that hashtag and the winner will be announced. received during the ceremony. As an added incentive, the three who voted will be flown to next year’s event to present the awards.
It’s Lucy and football again. Oscar producers are chasing the dream that if certain blockbusters win the trophy, viewership ratings will rise again. That is not the case, and it never will be. What’s more, it’s a silly and confusing brainstorm on how to deal with the myriad problems that have plagued the Oscars TV show in recent years. It’s confusing to think that someone in the industry has surveyed all the problems with the Academy Awards and thinks, “I know how to fix this. We need to create a prize to give Red Notice. ”
“It’s Lucy and football again. Oscar producers are chasing the dream that if certain blockbusters win the trophy, viewership ratings will rise again. That is not the case, and it never will be.”
(Fine, this could be a well-thought out plan to make sure Spider-Man: There’s no way home, the only actual movie that people seem to have seen in theaters in the past two years, gets its theatrical run after a somewhat failed long-running filming campaign for Best Picture. But again… who exactly is stopping the producers from letting Holland, Zendaya, and any kind of celebration be such a big part of this year’s show?)
It’s one more way that the Oscars are tarnishing their reputation by ignoring why people who still work hard on the show are still watching. In fact, it seems like they actively hate those people. But the demographic that hates the Oscars? Once again, they were covered with a red carpet – a carpet they would never step on.
People who watch the annual Academy Awards do so because they want to see the best movies being honored. They wanted a loving memory of the year in the movie. They want luxury and glitz and Hollywood escapism. They want to get caught up in performances or projects they missed because of the speeches, montages, and clips that moved them. They wanted to see a performance, entertained by a spectacle created by the best creative minds in the world.
Stop worrying about uninterested demographics showing up, cutting and cutting out the greatness of it all just for the sake of runtime paranoia, and dreaming of humiliating gimmicks like to beg attention. Bringing a great show for those who are trusted to watch it.
They don’t want to see Tom Hanks forced to explain a convoluted hashtag-based voting campaign that was staged so a bad Netflix movie could win an award and some strangers from the street can get it. may be present at the ceremony. (Ah yes, just what we’ve all craved from Hollywood’s biggest night: more ordinary people.)
It is not without the evolution or adoption of new types of entertainers and cultural tastes and attitudes. But there should be a love of the year in the movies and a joy to be had in the act of celebrating them. That’s why it’s so exciting that Schumer, Hall, and Sykes take on the hosting duties.
“It is not without the evolution or adoption of new types of entertainers and cultural tastes and attitudes. But there should be a love of the year in the movies and a joy to be had in the act of celebrating them. ”
In the past, they’ve all proven that they’ll be completely committed for a bit, aren’t afraid to take risks, are willing to not be self-deprecating, but also seem to have the enthusiasm needed for the job. Compare that to someone like Jimmy Kimmel, the former Oscars host, who recently went out distance The power of the dog was nominated but Spiderman Not. It’s a novel idea, but maybe the winners of the most prestigious film awards in the world really are like movie. Schumer, Hall and Sykes, at least, star in a lot of them, so one can guess they do!
There have been plenty of jokes over the past week following the #OscarsFanFavorite announcement about us being one step away from the evening being decided based on whatever trends are on TikTok. The Academy has two competing problems: a ranking disaster and a series of devastating devastations. Why not fix one that can actually be fixed?
