Despite its 91-year legacy and impact on the film industry, the Academy Awards ceremony is not always widely-respected by the general public.
After all, it is ridiculous to assume that just one group can objectively decide what the best film of the year was or who gave the most stellar performance. Regardless of what decisions are made by the Academy, there will always be some sort of a backlash.
However, in 2019 especially, the levels of controversy seem to have been taken to new extremes due to a number of short-sighted choices made by the Academy in the lead up to the awards.
The announcement in August that the Academy created a new “best popular film” category was rightly called out as a way for them to benefit off of promoting blockbuster movies, regardless of their actual quality.
When this decision was reversed a month later, it came off as an attempt by the Academy to save face, rather than honestly learn from its mistakes. Even more unexpected developments have turned this year’s Oscars ceremony into something resembling a disaster.
After Kevin Hart was signed on to host, he quickly dropped out due to controversy over homophobic tweets he had made in 2009-11. The Academy announced that this year would be the first since 1989 to be conducted with no host.
Although Oscars hosts have been met with frequent criticism over the past few years — Seth MacFarlane of the 2013 Oscars is a notable example — the complete lack of a host during this year’s show will only serve to highlight just how disorganized and poorly thought-out the entire process has become.
Furthermore, frequent backtracking from the Academy has proven for many that it is prioritizing image and popularity over its actual respect for filmmaking.
Decisions such as only having two of the “Best Original Song” nominees perform when normally all of them perform, as well as airing awards such as “Best Cinematography” and “Best Film Editing” during commercial breaks, were denounced not only by the public, but also by prominent filmmakers.
Unsurprisingly, both of these decisions were reversed, but the damage has already been done by this point. The Academy is desperately trying to appease as many groups of people as possible, no doubt in response to the previous year having their lowest viewership in 44 years since they began to track viewership.
In doing this, it is only alienating the people who truly care about what the Academy Awards are supposed to represent.
The Best Picture nominees this year have also been the subject of heated debate.
“Black Panther” has officially become the first superhero film to be nominated for Best Picture, although many are questioning the validity of this decision due to previous critically acclaimed movies such as “The Dark Knight” having been left completely ignored.
Although this film’s cultural impact is undeniable and very important to recognize, the fact that a superhero film is being nominated for best picture shows a clear shift in the thought process of the Academy.
The Academy is evidently changing its strategy to bring more attention to widely viewed tent-pole films, which ties back to its failed attempt to incorporate a “popular film” category. Whether this is a trend that will stick or just another ratings grab remains to be seen.
Other nominees such as “The Favourite” and “Roma” are more traditional Academy material, with “Roma” in particular having enough positive buzz surrounding it to make it a likely contender for winner of “Best Picture.”
Films such as “A Star is Born,” “BlacKkKlansman,” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” also made waves at the time of their release, but it remains to be seen if their positive reception will be enough to take any one of them across the finish line.
Overall, this year’s Oscars is shaping up to be a culmination of a series of bad decisions on the part of the Academy. Some of its recent choices have been downright disrespectful, both to people who care about films and those who actually work hard to create them.
With declining ratings and an ever-more-negative reception from the public, it will be fascinating to witness how the once prestigious institution will try to gain respect once again.
