It’s official! The 2022 Academy Awards nominations are out and everyone is talking about their front runners and biggest subs for this year. Every year, people all around the world complain about films that never get recognition from The Academy. Let’s break down the top reasons as to why people think The Academy of Motion Pictures needs an internal makeover.
A small introduction
In the past decade, the Oscars have seen a dramatic decrease in live viewers. People are not watching the award ceremony anymore. Live tv has seen a decrease in audiences due to the increase in different online streaming platforms. However, viewer counts usually increase during highly anticipated award ceremonies and shows. The Grammy Awards peaked in viewership in 2012 with almost 40 million live viewers. 2021 only had 8.8 million viewers. Same goes for the Oscars. 2010 had almost 50 million viewers, while 2021 had 9.8 million. Now I know what you might be thinking, this is probably because of COVID-19 right? (My apologies for mentioning the pandemic trigger word.) Well, you would be incorrect. This decline has been slowly happening over the past ten years and is only expected to keep falling. Now, there is no way to know for certain why people have stopped caring about the Oscars, but everyone has their theories.
So, let’s ask that all important question. Why? Why do people feel like Oscar nominations are never right? Well, first we need to understand the rules and requirements for being Oscar nominated. Each category has a different set of rules and requirements in order to be considered for Oscar nominations. Usually those requirements have to do with where the film was screened, for how long and what ratings it received. In order to even be considered, the film must be screened in at least two of the small handful of specific theaters for Academy voters to see it. That’s also usually pretty expensive for those who are on a lower budget. Oscar nominated films also have formatting requirements. Long story short, it takes a lot to just qualify for an Oscar.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
This entire time you probably only had one thought in your mind. How did Spider-Man: No Way Home get snubbed that badly? What happens when films have everything they need, including amazing reviews and recording breaking numbers, but still get pushed under the rug by the Academy? What then? This is the main reason why people are upset with the nominations each year. For example, this year Spider-Man: No Way Home made a record-breaking $260 million during the opening weekend and has reached $1.8 Billion in box office sales since then. It was the most anticipated film of the year and still stands with a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film received incredible feedback on its character development, screenwriting, and overall plot arc of the Marvel Spider-Man story. Even with the enormous amount of stellar reviews and worldwide love for the film, Spider-Man: No Way Home only received one nomination for “Best Visual Effects.” People are calling it the worst Oscar snub of the century.
Here's a Metaphor! Or two
Let’s think of it like this. If everyone were to stand in an art gallery, Academy members and regular audience members alike. The nominations are like if all the Academy members were to only pay attention to the three pieces of art, hanging by the front door of the gallery.. They look a little bland, maybe they only have one stroke of paint across the canvas. However, they stand there all day, discussing the emotions they feel from those three pieces of art. Then they slip out the door and never think about the art they never saw. But then, the rest of the audience walks through the entire gallery. They acknowledge that the first pieces are impressive, but the best piece is hanging high on the wall by the exit door.. The whole world talks about the show-stopping art they saw by the exit door. They talk and talk about it for months, only to then find out that the art is getting tossed into the trash in a month because it’s not like the rest of the art in the gallery. Or that art like that has never been recognized as impressive, so why start now?
Maybe that’s too complicated or deep for this topic. But the point is that each year people say the exact same thing. “They never nominate the movies that deserve the most recognition.” Or to put it in simpler terms, “My favorite movie got snubbed, BIG TIME.”
Films that fall in the category of comedy or action, tend to get overlooked by the Academy. Which tends to make a lot of people upset. The Oscars are meant to be a celebration of the best films of that year. Now, it just feels like a high school graduation ceremony. No one is allowed to have fun, a couple people give speeches that are too long and you go home feeling no different than when you entered the building. Or maybe you do, if you go home with an Oscar. The point is that the hype for the Oscars is gone. Even those who get nominated do not seem to care about holding the gold trophy.
Let's wrap this up.
While this discussion could go on forever, you’ve probably gotten bored by this point. Or you are frustrated because you remembered that Spider-Man: No Way Home did not get the nominations it deserved this year. Or maybe you are feeling a little sad about the lack of enthusiasm coming from the film industry towards the Oscars. Either way, the Academy does probably need a makeover. The requirements and reasons for nominations need to be looked over and changed.
Whether you are an actor, director, cinematographer or simply a film enthusiast, you have probably found yourself caring less and less about watching the Oscars. Anyone who has ever been obsessed with the world of film, has imagined themselves winning an Oscar one day. They have stood in their bedroom, holding a hairbrush or a water bottle, practicing their winning speech. They have thought about that one moment. The moment when they hear legends like Brad Pitt or Anne Hathaway announce their name as the winner. While every actor, director or editor still thinks about that incredible moment, the hope and appreciation for the award has started to die out. When a term like “Oscar Bait” is slapped across a film, and nominations start to look exactly the same each year, the Oscar award starts to lose its weight. Maybe one day the Oscars will feel important again. Maybe one day a Marvel movie will win Best Picture (as it should.) For now though, if you are a writer or a director, if you still dream about one day getting up on that stage and to say that long rehearsed “Thank You” speech, keep pushing. You never know until you try.
Moral of the story: the Oscars are complicated and need to rethink their choices and Spider-Man: No Way Home is the best movie of the year.
For a full list of the 2022 Oscar Nominations, please visit the link provided below. https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2022
Author: Emma Akerman