Are the Oscars too Elitist?
I was about to post my own rant about this, but Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood-Elsewhere beat me to it:
Amen brother! All this talk about Oscar being too elitist and not honoring films the average person likes is pure and utter bullshit. What do you want them to do, nominate Pirates of the Caribbean for Best Picture?
Audiences don't want to be challenged. They want to turn their brain off and watch something familiar. Should that be honored as the best of the year, just because it makes a lot of money?
No. Oftentimes the best films don't make that much money because they are simply too different or unusual or cerebral for the average moviegoer who is just looking for a piece of escapist popcorn entertainment.
Audiences vote with their wallets. Let the Oscars honor the movies that might otherwise get overlooked...even if they themselves tend to go more for mainstream fare.
Yes, the Academy Awards are not elitist enough.
Have the Oscars become too elitist? L.A. Times guy Patrick Goldstein and John Horn get into it, but the answer is pretty clear to me: they aren't nearly elitist enough. Elitist as in, "Mob tastes be damed." Screw the current box-office favorites (if necessary) and celebrate the films audiences will respect 10, 20 or 50 years from now. And not the ones the Academy will eventually be ashamed of (Driving Miss Daisy, Around The World in 80 Days, The Greatest Show on Earth, Chicago, etc.).
Amen brother! All this talk about Oscar being too elitist and not honoring films the average person likes is pure and utter bullshit. What do you want them to do, nominate Pirates of the Caribbean for Best Picture?
Audiences don't want to be challenged. They want to turn their brain off and watch something familiar. Should that be honored as the best of the year, just because it makes a lot of money?
No. Oftentimes the best films don't make that much money because they are simply too different or unusual or cerebral for the average moviegoer who is just looking for a piece of escapist popcorn entertainment.
Audiences vote with their wallets. Let the Oscars honor the movies that might otherwise get overlooked...even if they themselves tend to go more for mainstream fare.
Yes, the Academy Awards are not elitist enough.
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