It's awards season! Within the next few weeks, we're bound to see dozens upon dozens of articles from sources everywhere, declaring who's been "snubbed" or "upset" by the nominations and winners. But why does it matter? Who decides the Academy Award winners, anyway?
This is a topic that has been shrouded with secrecy for years. One thing we know for sure, though- the voting process is complicated. The rule book this year is 36 pages.
All voting is done by Academy members- people in the motion picture industry who have worked in or for at least one motion picture 10 years prior to voting. But there's no application process- to become an Academy member, one needs to be sponsored by someone already in the Academy. Because of this, the Academy has historically been incredibly "exclusive" (a huge reason for the #OscarsSoWhite trending hashtag in 2015 after no actors of color were nominated in the main four categories).
However, the Academy has taken notice of these complaints. In the past few years, over 700 new "industry professionals" have been invited into the Academy, many of them women and people of color.
It seems that the Oscars award ceremony is rife with controversy every year. Last year's host-less program was expecting fewer viewers than usual (viewers have been dropping substantially for the last 5 years), but actually ended up with a 12% jump in viewership from 2018- the lowest year for viewings, ever. But whether it's announcing the wrong film for Best Picture (who could forget the La La Land/Moonlight mishap of 2017) or the mob of angry fans who riot about the Inevitable Snub that seems to occur every year, it's almost impossible to get through the Oscars without drama we're expected to care deeply about.
But, hang on- why are we supposed to care about it anyway? If the Oscars is just actors voting for other actors, or directors voting for other directors, then why should we, audience members, care about the awards? The obvious answer is the endless bragging rights and the expensive statue- right?
Well, it turns out that may not be the case- at least not for the statue. The Academy, with all its rules and regulations, declared in 2015 that winners cannot sell their Oscar without first offering to sell it back to the Academy for $1, which makes each one worth a mere $1.
So Oscar winners still get bragging rights among their fellow movie industry employees- and that's really it. There's hardly any point in audience members getting excited or furious about the results when they had little impact on the nominations and winners. After seeing how little the Oscars mean, it's almost humorous to think about the state some fans get in over "their" movies.
At the end of the day, the Oscars only matter when we say it does. The Academy Awards will hold its 91st celebration of film on February 9th, 2020. You can decide for yourself if you want to tune in- just remember that regardless of who "wins" or "loses," you're allowed to enjoy the movies you enjoyed this past year- regardless of how many $1 statues they boast.
