The Academy Awards—more commonly referred to as the Oscars—are a national staple of the entertainment industry. Every year the very best films that the industry has to offer are presented, lauded and awarded for excellence in categories ranging from acting, to cinematography to music. Every aspect of the filmmaking process is highlighted and celebrated during the event. It is supposed to be a time of recognition and praise for those films that go above and beyond to innovate, elevate and master aspects of the craft in all forms. However, some have denounced the Oscars for engaging in exclusivism and for promoting a certain Hollywood standard that may have implications for the industry as a whole.
The Academy Awards began in 1929, founded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to celebrate technical and artistic achievement in the field of filmmaking. Since then it has grown to be the most coveted and prestigious entertainment awards show in the world. So much so that the terms “Oscar season” and “Oscar bait” are used in conjunction with some movies, meant as condemnation for pandering, lobbying or biased filmmaking. The existence of these terms implies that to win an Academy Award, a film needs to not only stand on its own but appeal to a certain kind of audience. Perhaps to present a certain kind of subject matter in a certain kind of way beyond the innovative and excellent. Hence the derogatory use of the term for movies that are made solely to pander to the Academy. “Oscar bait” movies are typically thought to be self-serious, self-aggrandizing and alienating to a wider audience. They can still display marvelous technical and artistic talent, but if they lack those effervescent qualities that make good films great, then they can often come across as preachy or flashy with no real substance.
The Academy has an enormous burden of duty to not only judge the quality of the films produced in a year but to judge them based on their own technical and artistic merit, devoid of the influence of popular opinion. This, inevitably, often leads to dissatisfaction from many average moviegoers who may not have ever heard of the announced “Best Picture” and will have no satisfaction from watching their favorite movie “win” or “lose.” So come the claims of exclusivism—and often not entirely without grounds—that the Academy plays favorites. Bias runs rampant in Hollywood, and the Oscars are no exception. The Academy is no stranger to controversy; however, it should be noted that all publicized awards ceremonies have a distinct “genre” or type of film that they usually accept. The Oscars is not an exception, although it may profess to be.
Like all forms of art, film quality is subjective, and the burden of judgment falls on the heads of subjective people. Therefore the Oscars, while typically lauded for being the golden standard in judging film and adhering to strict criteria within that judgment, is often as fallible and prone to bias as any other awards show.
This is a sad fact of the entertainment and arts industries; the publicization of the celebration of subjective work often leads to an inevitable division between what the Academy believes to be good and what popular opinion holds to be good. It begs the question: are these awards shows really relevant to anyone outside of the people participating, and should claims of exclusivity even matter in a system of subjective judgment?
Are the Academy Awards still relevant?
The Academy Awards—more commonly referred to as the Oscars—are a national staple of the entertainment industry. Every year the very best films that the industry has to offer are presented, lauded and awarded for excellence in categories ranging from acting, to cinematography to music. Every aspect of the filmmaking process is highlighted and celebrated during the event. It is supposed to be a time of recognition and praise for those films that go above and beyond to innovate, elevate and master aspects of the craft in all forms. However, some have denounced the Oscars for engaging in exclusivism and for promoting a certain Hollywood standard that may have implications for the industry as a whole.
The Academy Awards began in 1929, founded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to celebrate technical and artistic achievement in the field of filmmaking. Since then it has grown to be the most coveted and prestigious entertainment awards show in the world. So much so that the terms “Oscar season” and “Oscar bait” are used in conjunction with some movies, meant as condemnation for pandering, lobbying or biased filmmaking. The existence of these terms implies that to win an Academy Award, a film needs to not only stand on its own but appeal to a certain kind of audience. Perhaps to present a certain kind of subject matter in a certain kind of way beyond the innovative and excellent. Hence the derogatory use of the term for movies that are made solely to pander to the Academy. “Oscar bait” movies are typically thought to be self-serious, self-aggrandizing and alienating to a wider audience. They can still display marvelous technical and artistic talent, but if they lack those effervescent qualities that make good films great, then they can often come across as preachy or flashy with no real substance.
The Academy has an enormous burden of duty to not only judge the quality of the films produced in a year but to judge them based on their own technical and artistic merit, devoid of the influence of popular opinion. This, inevitably, often leads to dissatisfaction from many average moviegoers who may not have ever heard of the announced “Best Picture” and will have no satisfaction from watching their favorite movie “win” or “lose.” So come the claims of exclusivism—and often not entirely without grounds—that the Academy plays favorites. Bias runs rampant in Hollywood, and the Oscars are no exception. The Academy is no stranger to controversy; however, it should be noted that all publicized awards ceremonies have a distinct “genre” or type of film that they usually accept. The Oscars is not an exception, although it may profess to be.
Like all forms of art, film quality is subjective, and the burden of judgment falls on the heads of subjective people. Therefore the Oscars, while typically lauded for being the golden standard in judging film and adhering to strict criteria within that judgment, is often as fallible and prone to bias as any other awards show.
Fill That Plate: Why Freshmen Should Challenge Themselves
This is a sad fact of the entertainment and arts industries; the publicization of the celebration of subjective work often leads to an inevitable division between what the Academy believes to be good and what popular opinion holds to be good. It begs the question: are these awards shows really relevant to anyone outside of the people participating, and should claims of exclusivity even matter in a system of subjective judgment?