pander

Sunday Soapbox 009

Oscar so desperate

[ entertainment industry ]

Ah, I'm so mad!

This might be an old news by now but I can't emphasize how much dire the viewpoint of Academy Awards of the current motion picture climate. Having been stuck in the past for so long with increasingly aging members represented by their choices of the winners for the past twenty years or so, they are always reactionary rather than visionary with the increase of the number of movies that could be nominated for best film and inclusion of more diverse members in age and race after receiving massive one backlash after another. While we can see them at least making a positive change to decades old establishment no matter the motives behind them, I can't get behind this recent reported changes to their annual award ceremony!
Okay, let's get this straight. Award is just an award if we break it down is Oscars we are talking about, the leading symbol of prestige in the film industry whether we like it or not. Even having being nominated for an award in their many category is an achievement in and of itself, let alone winning it after beating the odds of besting the best of the best the industry has to offer! Being associated to the Oscars means your career as an actor or director or any other works in the vast field of filmmaking have been validated or at least acknowledged by your fellow peers as one of the year's best representation of them and of the art. Your name would suddenly have more clout behind it and it would change your career for the better. This is why the Academy Awards is being taken so seriously and these recent proposed changes to their broadcasting and even their award category are being criticized heavily for the obvious pandering to the casual viewers of the ceremony, putting the viewership number over properly paying tribute and acknowledgement of the best talents of the year.

First of all, I want to highlight how they think cutting the broadcast runtime of the whole ceremony would attract more viewers to watch it. A shorter version is much more consumable to the long full version, right? Wrong! The real reason casual fans are not attracted to watch it really is because how Oscars is presented as a self-serious gala event (read: admittedly blandly boring) that won't be appealing to those that are not as invested or interested in the film industry in the first place. If the event is still visually and narratively the same despite the shorter duration, the amount of viewers they might get could not justify them overlooking those in the technical categories, making us see them selling their self-worth for a short-term reward. Us movie lovers want to see them getting their moment in the sun, their deserved spotlight in the limelight, not being cast aside as unimportant for the main event of the year. Don't get me started on the popular film category! After the Dark Knight, the Academy did not use the ten film quota to its full advantage (they used it only once if my mind serves me correctly) after its inception, overlooking (I think I'm seeing a pattern here ...) award-worthy movies year after year that might be beneficial for them to be included in the conversation even though they might not stand a chance against the more viable options. With that being said, do you think people are clamoring for a popular film category when the committee didn't even give them a fair chance in the first place? Popular doesn't mean quality based on the recent features that are loved by the masses (the Transformers franchise for example) and are they ready to take the plunge and dilute the Oscar Award's worth for a shortsighted pandering effort? How are they going to decide which film is worthy to be included in this shameful category? Are they going to overlooked quality yet again, just like how they include the Boss Baby last year? Speaking of which, the animated features have suffered by apparently not being eligible to be included in the overall Best Feature contention after getting their own category. Are popular films that are currently being led by superhero films would suffer the same fate if they go through with this ridiculous plan?!

If they overlooked Logan last year, I don't think the future is bright, like at all for the art of film.

Fooh ... I feel better already!

Nope, I'm feeling really pessimistic now, not until the Academy retract this plan ...

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a case for a surefire plan to fail:

+ Positives +

well ... they are trying to make changes, essentially, I guess.
? Main contention ?

the result of this experiment would definitely be a failure rater than a surprised success.

- Negatives -

the industry would greatly suffer for it in the eyes of the world.

? Trait ?

- misplaced of priority with a delusion of what is the real problem of the broadcast ... shortsighted plan with a long term consequence. -

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