It was announced earlier this week that The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences were making two major changes to The Oscars, their annual event that honors excellence in cinema. Both of these revisions I see are problematic but one is definitely worse than the other.
First, apparently due to the continuing ratings decline of the Oscars telecast, it has been officially decided that the show will run no longer than three hours. So that means that all twenty-four categories will not actually be seen presented live during the show and the winners will be announced later in the program in abbreviated clips, much like they do on The Tonys and The Grammys. Now I personally don't mind the length, which can usually push to almost four hours, but the concern has been for awhile that for many the show runs too long and turns off the short attention-span of younger viewers.
The question now becomes which categories are going to get the short-end of the Oscars stick. I guess all the Short Film, Visual Effects and Sound Editing winners better be prepared that mom and dad won't get to hear you thanking them on live tv. It doesn't seen fair that most of the below-the-line categories will surely not be presented but I hope that The Academy will at least alternate which nominations get the live treatment each year.
But the most mind-boggling change is the addition of a twenty-fifth category and it will be called, "Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film" or more simply, Best Popular Film. Although this seems like something the MTV Movie Awards have been handing out for years, the question is raised on what exactly does this prize even mean? Obviously, there were no details revealed on how these nominees will be determined although it has been said that these films will eligible for this prize and Best Picture. Will it be based solely on how much money the film made (what a discouraging thought) or simply a popularity contest with average movie-goers voting on their favorites (which seems to miss the whole point of The Oscars)?
There have been many, many voices (inside and outside of the movie industry) who have expressed their dismay and displeasure over this new category and some board-members of the Academy were not even made aware that this award was even being discussed. I also find this addition quite surprising as The Academy has declined for years to add any new categories like Best Casting or Best Stunt-Work which seem far more deserving to me than a popular movie award.
I hope The Academy will come to their senses and realize that this award is not only unnecessary but diminishes the Best Picture category. The point of the Oscars is to honor excellence in film and to award a prize based almost entirely on how much money it has made certainly does not represent the best that cinema has to offer. Besides, as far as I’m concerned, all of these multi-million dollar grossing movies have always gotten all the Oscar nominations they deserve.
UPDATE: It appears that The Academy did come to their senses and this new category of Best Popular Picture has been dropped from the upcoming ceremony. Although the Academy's president, John Bailey insists that this plan will be revisited, I have a strong feeling that this idea is not likely to build a lot of momentum.
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