Popular
When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences began giving out awards, it was to celebrate the art of motion pictures. Successful box office winners were awarded with, well, money. There does exist a Venn diagram of movies that are both artistic and successful, such as The Godfather, Star Wars, Gone With the Wind, and several others, but for the most part a movie is made to make a lot of money, or at least a little bit of money.
Now the Academy has decided to add a category called "Best Achievement in Popular Film." This is seen as a reaction to the horrible ratings from last year's Oscar telecast. The thinking is, and it tends to be proven by the numbers, is that when a successful movie is up for awards, the fans of that movie will tune in. One of the highest rated shows was when Titanic won a lot of awards. But I think the reasoning behind this is even more craven. I'll bet the governors were sitting around a table, terrified at the thought that Black Panther would not get many Oscar nominations, especially for Best Picture.
It happened with Wonder Woman, another milestone film, which got zero nominations. But with the accusations that the Academy ignores people of color (which has changed since a more diverse and younger group of people were invited to join) a snub of Black Panther would create a public relations disaster. It was the snubbing of The Dark Knight that led to up to ten nominees for Best Picture, and it is Black Panther that created the "Popular Film" award.
Initially I was horrified by this, but I've begun to warm to it, with some conditions. The award should be in no way, shape, or form, considered equal to Best Picture. It should be considered like Best Animated Film, with the award being given in the last hour of the show but not second to last. The nominees should be selected like the animated films are, too. The studios submit their choices, based on whatever criteria they decide on (there shouldn't be a bar set for earnings, as that would rule out December releases like Aquaman). Then a committee should select the best five. A nominee list of Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, The Incredibles 2, A Quiet Place, and Mission Impossible: Fallout would include five good films. The worries that Fifty Shades Freed or some other piece of trash will be nominated are probably unfounded.
But what will that do to the Best Picture situation? Would knowing that Black Panther likely would have this Popular award sewn up deter members from voting for it for Best Picture? Is it ghettoizing action films, leaving the Best Picture race with indies? It will be interesting to see.
The other decision made by the Academy is far worse. For years, the Oscars have been the best of the EGOT awards became all categories are presented live. The winner of Best Animated Short gets their time in the spotlight just as much as Best Actress. Also, for years naysayers have said that nobody cares about these awards, but true Oscar fans disagree. Besides being important for Oscar pools, these below-the-line awards are just as important as the above-the-line. When Roger Deakins won Best Cinematography at the last show there were thousands, if not millions, who cheered because he had never won before after many nominations. Oscar fans don't care about the length of the show, we want to see awards given. If you want to save time, cut the stupid bits like inviting a tour bus full of people into the theater.
The Academy hasn't announced which awards will be relegated to being given out during commercials, and then edited and shown later (will we get to hear all the nominees, or the winner's whole speech? Doubtful) but when they do, expect howling from those branches, and maybe this terrible idea will be dropped. If they give up that idea I can live with the "most popular" award. But I have to wonder, if the category is called "Best Popular Film," does that imply that the Best Picture nominees are unpopular?
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