by Nathaniel R
The news from behind-the-scenes for this year's Oscar ceremony just keeps getting worse. First came the news that they were demoting crucial artistic achievements like Film Editing and Production Design to a 'pre show'... to be edited into the live event (we know how badly that comes off from other awards shows who do it -- all of which have lower ratings than the Oscar). It was a telling sign that they don't get or love their own popular brand, a lethal combo for the future. When the filmmaking community naturally expressed concerns and even anger and threats of boycott, outgoing CEO Dawn Hudson and the outgoing Academy president attempted gaslighting... it was our problem. We just didn't understand what they were saying. Um, no. We hated it precisely because we understood!
The fallout continues...
This morning in The Hollywood Reporter comes further reporting that ABC had threatened to cancel the whole broadcast unless the Academy cut not 8 but HALF of all categories. In this instance, and it's shocking to even say this as a lifelong devotee who has never missed a ceremony, I wish the Oscars had called their bluff. Go ahead and cancel the show.
If the Academy Awards, the crown jewel of awards shows, keeps trying to become more like awards shows that are less popular, they will lose whatever cultural cachet they still wield. Yes, that's less than before but it's still a formidable amount. Perhaps the wake up all they needed was a cancelled ceremony or, better yet, a cancelled contract with ABC. Hindsight is 20/20 but it's very much a shame that the Academy renewed its contract with ABC back in 2016, extending their relationship with ABC through 2028 which will be the 100th Oscars. Otherwise we would have already seen the Oscars at a new home... though that new home would have had a rough start coinciding with two years of COVID-19.
We have long dreamt of what the Centennial of the Oscars might look like. How many movie stars and legends the show could pack into one solitary evening. But now we have little reason to believe that any of the Academy's lustre will survive until the 2028 ceremony, or that they'd even want it to be a true Centennial celebration of the movies since ABC plainly no longer values the Oscars and is holding them hostage, essentially. They'll be removing parts until they're just a shell of their former glamorous self. And who will want them then? Some Oscar fans, who have never cared much about how long the show runs (other major cultural events, like the Superbowl, are even longer), have expressed a desire for the show to move to a cable network or a streaming service that's less concerned with ratings. But we're not sure that would solve the problem or, rather which network or channel or service would stay out of the way and just let the Oscars be the Oscars.
Netflix, for example, clearly isn't the right place. Ted Sarandon offers the latest report its most tone deaf quote:
“All of the traditional Oscars will be presented in front of a full house and televised on ABC. It’s going to be a great show! Smart evolution of the broadcast. Nobody slighted.”
Contradicting all the Academy branches, governors, filmmakers, and artisans who have expressed anger about this decision with "nobody slighted" is just yet more gaslighting and yet another example of an Academy executive who apparently doesn't understand the appeal of the Oscars at all beyond wanting to win them.
Some people are trying to stay positive, which Scott Feinberg is clearly trying to do with this report, writing:
In the end, rather than dropping 12 categories altogether from the telecast, the Academy was able to satisfy ABC with the current plan, which will leave the network with more time to restore the sorts of ratings-drivers that were glaringly absent from last year’s telecast, such as a host (or, as will be the case this year, three hosts), clips of the nominated films and performances of the best original song Oscar nominees.
But there's little indication, from past Oscar wars, that the Academy and ABC really understand what drives ratings. Everyone, Oscar fanatic and laymen alike, loves seeing clips of the nominated films but it tends to be the first thing they cut later in the evening when they're running long. And nobody seems to understand that people who watch awards shows love acceptance speeches (which they're always trying to drown out just as they're getting emotional).
What they've made room for by cutting from the regular ceremony for the goal of three hours is adding two dumbs bit coddling organized online fanases and twitter with "Oscar Fan Favorite" and "Oscar Cheer moment". These things will eat up the time we could have been celebrating Editing and Production Design and Original Score with interesting presentations and glamorous or funny presenters. We watch awards shows to see movie stars and celebrate movies, not for online poll winners!
The music and sound branch are angriest about the changes, according to THR reports. We agree most with the anonymous governor of a branch whose category has been cut when he says:
They just keep reaching for this fictionalized mainstream viewer, but the Oscars are for people who love the movies, whether that audience is growing or shrinking.”
The best solution at this point might well be for the infighting -- the 'civil war' as its been characterized -- to continue. The general membership needs to get more political about their stances and vote in Board members who actually love and respect the Oscars and who understand that kowtowing to ABC's Oscar-hating demands is not the way forward. Not if you want the Oscars to remain the most popular awards show. The Academy needs to end their abusive marriage to ABC one way or another. We hope they survive until their 101st birthday if they can't find a way to divorce them before then.