In many ways, this was nine years in the making. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced last week that new changes were coming to the Oscars intended to improve the telecast’s ratings. Ratings have been in freefall since 2014, slipping from 43 million viewers to a record low 26 million for this year’s telecast, and the network that carries them, ABC, has taken notice. ABC has clearly placed the blame on the Oscars themselves for not acknowledging popular films that a widespread audience has seen, and thus, we have the creation of a new “Popular Film” category and a shorter telecast.
The seeds of discontent were sown in 2009 after the Oscars failed to nominated the incredibly popular and incredibly beloved The Dark Knight in Best Picture. The level of outrage reached a boiling point so that the very next year, the Academy felt compelled to make a drastic change by increasing the Best Picture lineup from five slots to 10. For two years, Academy voters picked their 10 favorite films of the year, but voters soon voiced their complaints to the Academy about having to choose so many films, so the board changed rules yet again for 2011 so that voters only had to pick their five favorite films and there could be anywhere between five and 10 nominees depending on the amount of films that hit a special magic number. While we still saw popular films get nominated, like Get Out and The Martian, the number of “Oscar bait” films that weren’t as seen by the public only increased.
The Academy, with what can only be presumed to be forceful input by ABC, announced new changes to be enforced moving forward, to widespread backlash. Now that the dust has settled and we’ve all had time to process the news, I wanted to weigh in with my own thoughts on the matter. Will the Academy’s efforts actually turn the ratings around or will it all crash and burn? Let’s take the new rulings one at a time.
1. A three-hour Oscars telecast
“We are committed to producing an entertaining show in three hours, delivering a more accessible Oscars for our viewers worldwide. To honor all 24 award categories, we will present select categories live, in the Dolby Theatre, during commercial breaks (categories to be determined). The winning moments will then be edited and aired later in the broadcast.”
Unlike many of my fellow Oscar bloggers, who spent much of last Wednesday focusing on the popular film category, it is this ruling that upsets me the most. I am fine with making the Oscars shorter, even though there seems to be no problem with the Super Bowl sometimes exceeding four hours. As someone who has hosted Oscar parties in the past with guests who are much more casual fans of the Oscars, the length has always been a complaint of theirs that I do, admittedly, understand.
But it’s the way the Academy plans to cut down on the Oscar telecast runtime that really distresses me. Relegating some categories to commercial breaks sends a very clear message to me, others watching, and those in the categories themselves that they are less important than others. I’m guessing the Shorts (Animated, Documentary, Live Action) will be the prime targets for this treatment, in addition to some of the technical craft categories like Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Costume Design, Makeup or Production Design. In a world and an industry completely enamored with actors, the Oscars are the one night a year where a mainstream audience can appreciate those behind the camera, and to present such categories during commercials only to have them edited and condensed to air in what will probably be a montage later in the ceremony, feels like a real yada yada-ing of important cogs in the wheel of moviemaking.
If they’re going to cut out anything from the telecast it should be the time-wasting segments like “Hey, normal people, surprise! You’re at the Oscars!” Get rid of “Hey celebrities, aren’t you hungry? Here’s some pizza!” All of these segments are trying to force some sort of viral moment to keep the audience engaged when the reality is, the Oscars have had plenty of viral moments that are most appreciated because they were unplanned and unpredictable. We have Jennifer Lawrence falling on her way up the stairs to collect her Oscar, Marlon Brando refusing to attend and sending Sacheen Littlefeather to accept and speak on the mistreatment of Native Americans within the industry, a loopy John Travolta announcing Idina Menzel as “Adele Dazeem.” Then there’s the grandaddy of them all, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway presenting Best Picture in 2017 and announcing the wrong winner. It was the most riveting scene on television all year.
If producers are worried that an audience won’t be engaged if they present all 24 categories live, they shouldn’t be. There are always moments that get people talking. You don’t have to force cheesy segments or air six different montages about the enduring power and magic of movies. Start by cutting those, and maybe even cut down the timing on musical performances for the Best Original Song nominees, too.
2. New award category
“We will create a new category for outstanding achievement in popular film. Eligibility requirements and other key details will be forthcoming.”
Where to begin. As noted above, the resounding opinion of The Powers That Be is that more people will watch the telecast if they recognize and have seen the movies nominated. So in an effort to essentially force the Academy to nominate “popular” films, we have a new category to be introduced next year called “Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film.” Now, what does that even entail? From what I can tell, even the Academy isn’t quite sure as they were sure to note that more details will be “forthcoming.” Is it just the top five grossing movies at the U.S. box office? If so, congrats to Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Incredibles 2, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Deadpool 2 for their nominations. What an honor to have made money.
What even is the threshold for a popular film? $100 million? $150 million? $200 million? Solo: A Star Wars Story crossed the $200 million mark, likely by pure nature of being a new Star Wars movie, but many have called it a box office failure. And there aren’t many people claiming Solo is their favorite Star Wars movie, either. What about the Mister Rogers documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? It has made over $21 million at the box office, astonishing for a documentary, and yet this total pales in comparison to Solo. But everyone has looked at the box office of Won’t You Be My Neighbor and other documentaries that came out this summer like RBG and Three Identical Strangers as a major success story.
When they say “Popular Film” do they mean “high-budget blockbuster?” That’s probably what ABC (owned by Disney) has in mind, since those movies almost always rocket up the chart to become the year’s top-grossing movies. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be wrong to rule out a runaway success like A Quiet Place, with its measly $17 million budget, that went on to gross over $188 million? It would definitely rule out last year’s Get Out as well, despite being the no. 15 movie of the year on a $4.5 million budget.
My assumption is that eligibility will be decided by box office, ultimately. In this scenario, voters will get a list of the top 20 (or 25) movies at the box office for the year and asked to pick their top five. It’s not perfect, considering movies that come out around Christmas won’t have much time to make it into that echelon, but it may be the fairest way to do it, all things considered.
No matter what way you slice it, though, this is a terrible idea. When popular films are worthy, they are nominated for Best Picture. Just ask Dunkirk and Get Out (2017), Hidden Figures and La La Land (2016), The Martian, The Revenant, and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), American Sniper (2014), Gravity and American Hustle (2013), Lincoln, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Argo, and Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and The Help (2011). All of those movies were among the top 25 moneymakers of their respective years — though some did make a chunk of their money after the Oscar nominations. These hit movies were rewarded organically because of their quality, which is what the Oscars should be about. The introduction of this Popular Film category seems to suggest that movies that happened to make a lot of money deserve their own success. As many have pointed out, this brings to mind the famous Mad Men line, in which Don Draper yells at Peggy, “That’s what the money’s for!”
At the end of the day, is the average moviegoer who never watches the Oscars suddenly going to watch a three-hour ceremony just because Avengers: Infinity War is nominated in one category? I doubt it. We’ve seen ratings slip for every award show, not just the Oscars. That is in part due to changing TV viewing habits, where many find it more convenient to watch a quick highlight reel the following morning rather than sit down and watch for 3+ hours. It’s not the Oscars’ fault that people simply aren’t watching TV the traditional way anymore. I don’t see how taking a cue from even lesser-viewed award shows like the People’s Choice Awards or the MTV Movie Awards will suddenly turn things around.
3. Earlier airdate for 92nd Oscars
“The date of the 92nd Oscars telecast will move to Sunday, February 9, 2020, from the previously announced February 23. The date change will not affect awards eligibility dates or the voting process.”
There has been considerably less discussion on this third point, but it’s still absolutely worth discussing because it will have a great effect on the industry and even the moviegoing audience. The Oscars have mostly aired in late February or at latest the first week in March since 2004, and took place even later in March and even April before this. By moving the date up to Feb. 9, the 2020 award season will be significantly shortened. Not only does this give less of a time period for studios to campaign for their films following precursors like the Golden Globes, SAG Awards and BAFTAs, it also shortchanges the audience at home. Movie studios tend to rely on the Oscars to provided publicity for their films, especially if they are smaller indie darlings, so this will affect scheduling and give the audience less time to see the movies nominated for Best Picture.
On the flip side, I do think it’s a little silly to be finally rewarding achievement in film for the previous year in March. While there are many Oscar nominated films that come out in December, others came out in the summer or even in the case of Get Out, in February. People have moved on. Moving the date up provides better closure for a year in movies and allows the industry, Oscar bloggers and the public to move on to the next year faster.
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The Oscars are facing a brave new world. The rise of the internet has changed just about everything we do and how we perceive the world and each other. This extends to the Oscars as well. TV ratings aren’t anything like they used to be. Average consumers are choosing to stay in and watch Netflix with their library of films they can watch for a full month for the price of just one outing at the movies. The amount of precursor awards has created fatigue; by the time you get to the Oscars, you’re watching the same group of actors win that already won at the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, BAFTA and Critics’ Choice Awards. All of this contributes to the prestige and necessity of the Oscars lessening with each passing year.
But I still believe in the Oscars. I still believe in their mission to honor the best in cinema, even if I or you don’t agree with some of their choices. They are still the crème de la crème of annual artistic celebrations, and they have helped bring awareness to a lot of smaller movies that may not have been seen, like 2016’s Best Picture winner Moonlight. I don’t think any of these changes will break the Oscars. We still have a Best Picture category. The telecast will still go on through 2028, as per ABC’s deal. But my hope is that the Academy gives greater attention in the future to those who care about the Oscars the most. They may already know that the dedicated fans who watch year after year will watch again in 2019 regardless of these changes. I know I still will. But that doesn’t mean you should take strikes at the very reason many Oscar lovers have watched for decades, the integrity and the prestige.