I remember the first time I watched an Oscars ceremony. I was truly captivated. The glitz, the glamour the undeniable air of prestige. I was hooked straight away. From that first ceremony onwards awards season became my favourite time of the year. For 11 years now I have tuned in to everything from the Critics' Choice Movie Awards to the Oscars and unashamedly savoured every single minute.
For years there was my dream pairing Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting the Golden Globes but in my awards loving heart they couldn’t hold a candle to the Oscars. I mean, when you think Oscars you think the best of the best, cream of the crop, top of the class- ok, you get it, I know.
Yet, slowly, year after year there has been a sense of disenchantment around the Oscars. The last ceremony I truly remember enjoying was when Hugh Jackman hosted. I can hear you all now, no, I didn’t just enjoy the ceremony because Hugh bought out my one true pairing Zanessa (Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens), I’m not that biased. I enjoyed it because it was fast paced, celebratory and yawn free.
In recent years, major award shows have been bogged down by allegations of sexual harassment, the implication that nominations were too white and too male orientated. While I must say I agree with the last two aforementioned sentiments, there are 364 other days in the year where these issues can be discussed in an open forum. In my view, when the world is gathered to celebrate artistry, that’s all the agenda should be about.
Sunday night’s Oscars was no exception. Again Donald Trump somehow came up in conversation, as well as Harvey Weinstein and issues of race and gender. Unlike the average joe, movie stars have the opportunity to use platforms where millions of followers are eating up their words every single day. Be it on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or an interview, the platform exists. Instead, actors are taking it upon themselves to make award season about using their voice which subsequently results in all the talk centred on how brave they are to speak out at such a time.
Photo Credit: The Drum
Now that I have gotten that off my chest, there are still some other issues fundamentally wrong with the Oscars. The ceremony is way too long. Cut it down to major awards and viewers wont be forced to watch it in sittings to avoid fatigue and utter boredom.
Secondly, find a fresh host. Just because someone is funny the first time around should not be an automatic guarantee that they host a second time. In his professional life, Jimmy Kimmel is funny during Mean Tweets and when he is copping out on Matt Damon and well, not much else. Give the hosting duties to some young and fresh comedians and let them put their own spin on the proceedings. We just had the lowest rating Oscars in years, something has got to give.
During her hosting duties Ellen DeGeneres got the mix right. There was humour, activity and involvement. It is scientifically proven (if not- it should be) that celebrities doing out of the ordinary things like posing for group selfies and fighting over pieces of pizza is bloody funny. So stick to science people. Get the celebrities more involved, get them participating and having fun. After all, the work they put in to making Oscar worthy movies should be rewarded with some laugh out loud fun.
If you think I am missing the point of the Oscars as prestige personified, I’m not. Things can still be prestigious with a little bit of funny in the mix. The Oscars wont lose it’s shine if seriousness was replaced with trying to make movie’s biggest honour palatable for the viewer.
While I will admit to having already said some controversial things, you really haven’t seen anything yet. My biggest gripe of the entire season of awards is the Oscar's best movie winner constantly going to sub par movies. Nothing else comes close when I rate it on the frustration metre and as an aggressive person of course I have a foolproof system.
Recently I was having a browse through past winners of the Oscar such as Casablanca, The Sound of Music, Rocky, Gladiator. These are all fantastic, flawless, watch over and over again pieces of perfection. Yet, feast your eyes on more recent winners, The Shape of Water (boring), Moonlight (hard to follow), No Country For Old Men (too many faults to capture concisely). These movies are barely worth a Golden Globe, let alone an Oscar. As such, the academy has gained a reputation for rewarding the strange and buying into public hype when it comes to choosing their best picture winner.
There is nothing worse than ending a ceremony screaming at the television cursing the academy for their constant poor decision making. Oh wait, is that only me? Anyway, I digress. The academy has become so predictable in rewarding this style of movie that I predicted the winner without having seen the nominees or the movie. And that is not something that should be boasted about.
Oscars, I have been harsh on you. I have come at you from every angle but it is only because I love you so much. You have been an institution for 90 years, but if things continue on in the same way, the future may not be so bright. The viewers have spoken by turning off their television sets and writing blog posts about the disappointment and the frustration. Now it is your turn to respond by making the 91st Academy Awards the best in years, sans the politics, the egos, the world issues, there are other forums for this, so stick to celebrating the craft of some of the best actors and writers of a generation.
- MP
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