I Miss The Oscars

 

    There was once a time when I would get all excited for the Oscars. As a film buff, cinematographer, writer, and cinema enthusiast, I used to think of the Oscars as the highest point of cinema achievement. They were the golden standard by which I measured the peak of success and artistic greatness. Now, all I see is rich people giving golden statues to each other for no justifiable reason other than retweeting the video of Gal Gadot singing John Lennon's Imagine because it was trendy. As harsh as that may sound, it's the harsh reality. 

    I would like to make it abundantly clear that I do not intend to proclaim that saying decent and "liberal" things is not in and of itself a bad thing, nor do I mean to imply that those in Hollywood who preach such things are disingenuine. I am aware that many people in Hollywood are just like anyone else out there: decent people (generally speaking) who care about those less fortunate than others, aware of the injustices in the world, and aim to make a difference through art and actions. The arts have always been a wonderful place for acceptance, encouragement, compassion, and bravery. Wanting to make a difference in the world through the arts is a wonderful thing to desire. 

    It's just too bad that the Hollywood system does not agree with that mentality! 

    While making movies is still an art form, it is also a business, which is easy to forget and explains why Hollywood is constantly shooting itself in the foot. Because as an art form, it's expected to entertain and feature clever commentary on the world at large by providing a specific perspective on things that can be encouraging to the audience to feel good about themselves and do better. Accomplishing this requires taking a few risks, asking strange questions, and exploring things not yet fully explored. In other words, dipping your toes into the unknown. 

    On the other hand, as a business, it is also expected to meet a quota, sell a product, and ensure absolute financial success by rinsing and repeating whatever formula has proven to accomplish all said goals regularly. Corporations (which Hollywood is), by nature, do not care about the quality of their product or the effect it has on people, culture, or society as a whole, so long as it makes the most amount of money possible and caters to whatever the customer demands regardless of reason or common sense. In other words, for the business savvy, the unknown is forbidden territory. 

    There is an argument that some Hollywood movies succeed in delivering their artistic intentions while also abiding by their corporate demands. Shouldn't that mean that at least some people in the Hollywood system are more artistically inclined than their corporate overlords? Sadly, no, it does not. It only means that the corporate overlords who pay for the product don't care what the product says or how well it is made because they focus on the safe business aspects that will ensure them as much success as possible. 

    In other words, Hollywood does not respect anything, believe in anything, or desire anything other than whatever rakes in the most amount of dough at all times. It's the only reason Michael Bay still has a job. 

    Despite this unfortunate truth, Hollywood wants so desperately for you to believe that they are the exception. That they are more human and compassionate than other uberwealthy corporate conglomerates out there. This is difficult to believe when everyone who attends the Oscars receives a free gift bag loaded with swag that's apparently worth more than a new car, let alone the golden statue they may or may not take home with them later that evening. 

    By now, you may have noticed that I'm talking less about the movies that were nominated and won this past Oscar season. That's because to understand why the films received nominations in the first place, it needs to be made clear what contributed to their selections. Most of the films that were considered for an Oscar, especially Best Picture, did not receive their nominations or wins because they were good (which is debatable), but because they played the game set down by the Academy. Also, they spent the most amount of money on their award campaigns. Getting nominated for an Oscar has nothing to do with artistic merit or overall quality; it's about how much money you can throw at the Academy. 

    Films that want to be nominated for an Oscar must spend as much money as possible on something called "For Your Consideration" campaigns. Producers of a movie will send out free copies of a movie to Academy members, along with nice and often extravagantly expensive "gifts" to consider their movie for an award nomination. It's actually why the movie Queen & Slim from 2019 was not nominated for anything, despite how much it clearly deserved it; the producers didn't have any money in the budget for a campaign. It's basically a publically accepted form of bribery: they're technically not buying votes, but they might as well be. 

    Another thing to consider is the business advantage of having an award now before the next big movie. 

    Consider this year's big winner, Nomadland. While I appreciate the movie in some ways, in my opinion, it was not worthy of Best Picture. Of the films that were nominated for Best Picture this year, I was rooting for Promising Young Woman. That film not only provided a compelling amount of entertainment value from the clever writing and engaging performances, it also provided some much-needed commentary on the dangers of male privilege, something that still exists and continues to plague modern society in every possible way. However, for the older power-hungry men who make up most of the Academy, condemning male privilege is not something they feel comfortable with. So, they did what they always do: they gave it the Best Original Screenplay Oscar to keep the fans calm, so they didn't have to give it Best Picture. Not to say that the film didn't deserve that award, because it absolutely did!

    Also, the only likely reason Nomadland took home Best Director for Chloé Zhao (talented though she is) was so the guys over at Disney/Marvel could now market their upcoming Eternals movie as "From the Academy Award Winning director of Nomadland." As I stated in my original review for Nomadland, it does showcase Chloé Zhao as a talented director who thrives in telling human stories and clearly works well with actors. However, that is not what the marketing team over at Marvel will think about when putting together the advertising campaign for Marvel's Eternals. Mark my words, when the posters and trailers for Eternals hit the public, the most predominant text will likely read some variation of "From the Academy Award Winning Director of Nomadland." 

    Oscars are not about quality or artistic achievement anymore (assuming they ever were); they are about making empty platitudes, mixed signals, and promoting corporate interests. They have rarely if ever, determined the ultimate quality of a film. 

    While I still enjoy some products of the Hollywood system, the misguided practices of the Oscars are no longer one of them. My days of dreaming I could reach that perceived level of excellence are finally over, for they no longer have any value in my personal measurement of accomplishment. 

    "A gold medal is a wonderful thing, but if you're not enough without it, then you'll never be enough with it." 

-John Candy from Cool Runnings 

Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.