The Oscars Are Adding A New Award For ‘Popular Films’, Whatever That Means

The Oscars Are Adding A New Award For ‘Popular Films’, Whatever That Means

Have you ever been frustrated that none of the movies you go see are nominated for Academy Awards? Well, hypothetically, that’s about to change.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that it is going to add an award “for outstanding achievement in popular film”. What does that mean? “Eligibility requirements and other key details will be forthcoming,” according to the release in The Hollywood Reporter.

It’s no secret that the Academy has been trying to come up with ways to beef up the viewership of the Oscars. That was the impetus behind the Academy extending the number of Best Picture nominees from five to a possible 10 about a decade ago.

However, since that change, those extra five slots have not always gone to more “popular” films. Instead, we’ve seen more small, critically-acclaimed films end up in the category, which almost makes it more frustrating for a viewer who now maybe hasn’t seen up to 10 of the nominees instead of five.

A lot of big questions come with this announcement. For instance, what constitutes a popular movie? Box office? Who in the Academy will decide that? What qualifies them to judge popularity? And, once they do, will members vote on which movies are most popular or which is the best of the popular movies?

And if these movies are so good, why aren’t they also winning Best Picture? And how will history view a film that wins an Academy Award that seems as though it isn’t based on artistic merit?

The Academy has clarified a few questions about this new category. First, it will begin with the upcoming Oscars in February 2019. Second, films are eligible for both Best Picture and Best Popular Picture. Third, they hope the award celebrates “broad-based consideration of excellence in all films”. Well, two of of three pieces of info ain’t bad.

This is just weird. Very weird. And we think, potentially, a bad idea — in contrast to the very good idea of continuing to diversify members of the Academy, which has already slowly been happening. Presumably, good and popular films will continue to organically make it into the other categories as the voting base becomes more varied and eclectic. If that happens, why force certain movies into what feels like an afterthought category?

Other changes are an Oscar ceremony that’s guaranteed to only run three hours (we’ll see about that), which is meant to be achieved by presenting “select categories live, in the Dolby Theatre, during commercial breaks (categories to be determined); the winning moments will then be edited and aired later in the broadcast”. The Oscars will also have an earlier air date starting in 2020.


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