Ten nominees, not five
Written by Adam Sprengeler Friday, 22 January 2010 08:00
As my friend Jarrett Failing said when talking about the 2010 Oscars, “if money talks, the bullcrap walks.” He of course is referring to the current situation the Academy Awards are in with regards to television ratings and their money making.
What used to be one of the biggest television events of the year is now struggling mightily when trying to entice the average American to tune in.
In 2007, the Academy Award ceremony experienced its lowest television rating in its upwards 80-year history only bringing in 32 million viewers according to E! News Online. The shows ratings have been on a slight rise since then, but are still at historic lows.
This is where the quote from earlier comes into play. Oscar officials have stated that the lack of attention from everyday viewers isn’t troubling because all award shows today are down. Therefore, they will not change anything about the ceremony regarding the awards.
One theory for the lack of attention is because the academy awards lesser-known movies for things such as Best Picture instead of Hollywood blockbusters. Last year, “Slumdog Millionaire” won Best Picture while fan favorite “The Dark Knight” wasn’t even nominated; a decision many fans felt jaded with.
Despite a commitment to lesser-known movies and statements about not bending to the pressure of the masses, the academy has taken steps to ensure popular movies make the ballet for Best Picture.
Long story short, because fans want to see big movies win the academy is bending the rules. Art be damned, they need to make money and regain the award ceremony’s credibility. The best way to do this is give the fans what they want.
That is why they have decided to expand the nominees for Best Picture from the traditional five to 10 so they may include fan favorite films such as “Up,” “Inglorious Bastards,” and “Avatar.”
So the question remains, is this a good thing? I don’t know if I agree with what they are doing, but I understand it.
The National Hockey League underwent many changes after the 2004-05 lockout to make the game more offensively friendly. Scoring more goals made for more interest, which in turn led to more revenue for teams and the league.
The NHL benefited by giving the fans what they wanted and in their situation, the game is better than before.
I feel the Academy Awards should give the fans what they want and at least nominate some of these fan favorites. Just because these less artistic films get the nomination, doesn’t mean they actually have to win. The Oscars can have their cake and eat it too: nominate fan favorites so they have a reason to tune in and see if their favorite film wins the award, and then give the award to the movie no one has ever heard of.
The Academy has had only five nominees for 64 years now and claims they won’t cut the “bullcrap,” but money talks and they will regain viewership and credibility at all costs.
