Naturally, the federal government has decided that now, in the Oscars' dotage, is the time to intervene in the process.
Thursday, April 04, 2019
DOJ Lawyers Now Want to Be Involved in Oscar Nominations
Naturally, the federal government has decided that now, in the Oscars' dotage, is the time to intervene in the process.
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4 comments:
I was really confused when I read the title of this article, and now after reading the article, I'm just floored by the contents. Does the Department of Justice have nothing better to do? Really, the Oscars shouldn't have anything to do with a governing body, its a part of the societal structure, not a political one. Yes, this years Oscars ended up being one of the lousiest, annoying, and just flat out bad Oscars I've ever seen, but could the government have changed that? The argument that has to do with shutting out companies like Netflix, which makes Oscar winning films far more accessible to the general population, is also ridiculous and has nothing to do with tradition- its just directors like Spielberg that only want to make a theatrical experience for people who can afford it. To me- its really hypocritical for someone who makes movies about stories about people who are poor, who can't afford the day to day, but only want rich theater goers to see it.
The academy awards are obsessed with elitism- not fighting it, but perpetuating it. The films that win Oscars aren't films that everyone sees, they're usually absurdly niche films that deliberately formulate their scripts to be inaccessible. The Oscars have become more and more focused on celebrating films that no one even goes to see, rather than films that were actually popular that year, and that were actually critically acclaimed. A great example of this is the deliberate omission of any superhero movies at the awards for anything other than technical achievements, even if those films were the most widely consumed and critically acclaimed. This pressure from filmmakers is elitist and exclusive, and it means that the same type of film keeps winning the awards. Personally, I don't bother watching the academy awards anymore, or putting any stock in what they say, because the entire system is broken and rigged. That's why the viewership has been declining, and why they will never become relevant again, because they aren't willing to actually change and grow and welcome all film types as good movies.
I don’t even really know what to think about this article. Yes, the Academy Awards have numerous issues in terms of what gets nominated and what wins but I am not quite sure that getting the government involved is the best way to solve this issue. I am not quite sure that I completely agree with this article when it says that antitrust laws are just petty, because I do think there is value in preventing monopolies that hurt everyone but those in power, but I do recognize that the way the government utilizes these laws is not always just and particularly helpful. All in all, this seems like an issue that the government will not be able to solve and, honestly, I do not even really understand why the Department of Justice has decided that this is something that they are concerned about. I have never thought that, in order to fix problems with the Academy Awards or any awards show, that what was needed was the government to step in, so I’ll be interested to see how this progresses and if there is any change for the better.
There’s a lot to unpack here, and it’s all working in sort-of tandem with each other. First you have the push from the Oscars to ban streaming and other non-conventional platforms from nomination. Which is a whole thing. That shouldn’t happen. For obvious reasons. Pair that with the Oscars thinking that will connect them with the youth is just false. I’m sure what’s happening here is actually some sort of divide in the actions of the Oscar committee. And then finally you have the introduction of the DOJ into the mix. And anti-trust laws. It seems like the DOJ is insinuating that any action on the part of the Oscars to shut out non-traditional platforms is egging toward a monopoly. Which feels wrong because the biggest hits would be to Amazon and Netflix. Who would survive. So at the end of the day this whole situation feels a little dumb.
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