Monday, October 04, 2021
The Academy Museum Finds Good Intentions in Messy Film History
The New York Times: Tucked in the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which opened Thursday in Los Angeles, is a surprisingly modest exhibit of “significant Oscars.” The museum, after all, is the latest venture of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that each year entertains, inflames and invariably stupefies movie lovers of every taste and critical persuasion with that gaudy bacchanalia of self-love known as the Oscars.
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This is a well done museum exhibit that harnesses the anger directed at award shows, especially in the past year, and presents the ideal of what award shows should be. I think one of the issues with award shows is obviously the lack of diversity and the prioritization of well known, white actors. I also think an often-overlooked issue is the fact that the rise of social media has increased our ability to stay informed and choose for ourselves what we consider to be content worthy of our attention. Award shows are supposed to uplift talent and put it on display for everyone to see, but when advertising is rampant, there is little need to tune into an award show to figure out which movie is worth seeing or which actor is worth looking out for in the future. The diversification of what we consume has in fact highlighted the roots of racism in award shows as award show panels have less influence and people notice when artists are snubbed.
Being from Los Angeles, I have been looking forward to the opening of this museum. I have seen it being built up from the very beginning, as I sometimes pass it on my drive to school. When thinking about finally getting to tour it, I found myself with the same question: What is actually going to be in it? So, reading this article and learning that the museum is focusing on addressing oppression in the industry and promoting diversity is very promising to hear! The movie industry is deeply flawed, and now more than every that is being examined. There is a healthy balance of education focused on an accurate history of the industry (especially highlighting those usually BIPOC voices that are often uncredited) and just classic museum fun through showcasing classic movie props. When I return to Los Angeles in winter I will be visiting!
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