Maxwell ReedWhenever award season comes around, you always have to sift through discussions in person and on social media about whether the Oscars are worth caring about or if they still serve a purpose. Are they just there for the industry to pat itself on the back? Do they still function as a good representation of the state that film is in at any given time?
That is what the Oscars feel like to many people these days. It often feels as if the Oscars just aren’t something that people care about anymore, but in reality, quite a lot of people still do. The show doesn’t just boil down to the industry giving itself all the credit. What truly makes award shows like the Oscars important are the discussions that people have around them, the connections that can be made through those conversations and the understanding that comes from it all.
The general public still fiercely debates who should win which awards, such as Timothee Chalamet, for example, after his comments about ballet and opera in February, or if “Sinners” or “One Battle After Another” should win for Best Picture. Older film fans and members of Gen Z all have entirely different views and that’s what makes these awards shows so special.
That’s where the purpose of the Oscars lies for me: the cross-cultural interactions you see around every nomination, win and snub. It doesn’t matter if the Oscars themselves matter; what really matters is the conversation surrounding it.
The ceremony itself is just a glamorous award show. While many different people vote on it, it is never going to perfectly reflect everyone’s thoughts or the culture. But that doesn’t have to be an issue. It is still a useful snapshot of how a certain part of the overall culture is feeling, and it’s up to you to decide how much weight you put in it.
Even in an era where lots of people stridently don’t care about the Oscars, and there was a noticeable drop in viewership by 9%, 17.86 million people still tuned in for the show worldwide.
Personally, I quite enjoy watching award shows every year. There’s upsets like when Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actor for “Weapons”, there’s humour that hosts like Conan O’Brien provide, and touching moments like when “Golden” by HUNTR/X won Best Original Song. There’s always something interesting for people to latch onto.
But they aren’t for everyone, and that’s okay. You can think the Oscars are the most important measurement of the success of a film, or you can think they are completely arbitrary. It’s entirely up to you, and discussing what things mean to different people is always worthwhile. It shows that everything has its purpose, because no matter what you think about something, there will always be someone else who thinks about it completely differently.
Online, you often see that presented as a bad thing, with people acting like having differing opinions on things means that someone has to be wrong. That’s what makes those discussions so important, though, the cultural exchange that occurs when people feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and opinions.
The Oscars are a great example of that, as the debates that people have on what films or actors/actresses should win which award are always fascinating. “One Battle After Another” wouldn’t have been my pick for Best Picture; it actually wouldn’t be in my top three out of all the nominees.
I know many wanted “Sinners” to win it all, but I would’ve picked “Sentimental Value.” That was the film that struck me the most on a personal level, with it really making me interrogate my own complicated feelings around life, death and my own family in a way that not much else in my life has been able to capture. That’s the beauty of award shows like the Oscars, seeing how the same thing can impact every person in so many different ways.
