Re: #Oscars. Yes, the Oscars was originally designed by the film studios as free publicity for themselves and as a way to bring in more moviegoers and get more press. The origins aren't that different from any other awards show (People's Choice or Golden Globes or whatever)
(This isn't unique to film. Joseph Pulitzer was a tabloidist who literally helped create what we now know as yellow journalism -- and along with William Randolph Hearst basically created clickbait and "fake news" -- but the Pulitzer Prize is still highly esteemed for good reason)
Over the last NINETY-YEARS, #Oscars and AMPAS has created the standard for film awards. Even when categories were overly expanded (up to 10 nominees) or added (Best Animated Feature) or major changes happened (Best Original Song), this is the gold standard.
The changes, which appear to have been taken without consulting members -- and designed to boost TV ratings (which hi, let people stream them on the fucking internet ABC and AMPAS), risk destroying the credibility of the awards themselves and everything the members create.
As someone who loves film and filmmaking more than almost anything in the world, this angers and astounds me. And as someone who is almost equally obsessed with the future of TV, this move is desperate and may improve ratings temporarily but don't solve that bigger problem.
This makes me sad. Growing up, watching the #Oscars was my most favorite night of the year. I was always allowed to stay up late (even sleep downstairs if necessary) and it made me fall in love with film and storytelling and auteurs.
I spent my summers renting movies and watching them while my mom was in grad school. Before film school, my film education started around age 9 or 10. The #Oscars influenced what I rented and sought out in a pre-ubiquitous WWW world.
Yes, the #Oscars are elitist (though not as elitist as some of the other film critic awards), but that's part of the point! There are plenty of mainstream popularity celebrations and awards. This is supposed to not be about ratings, but art.
While it's true box office has an undeniable role with the larger award categories (what studio is going to spend millions campaigning for a film that flopped?), the show itself isn't supposed to be so transparently driven by that.
This is terrible.
Last #Oscars thought for now: The show needs to change and evolve and there are huge issues with the Academy. I'm not denying that. But this isn't how you fix it.
