Why is Parasite nominated for best picture, when it's a foreign film?

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Even though I asked the question, how is it that this movie can be nominated in two categories, once I saw that this movie was also in the best picture category, I thought it was going to win probably. But a lot of people are surprised it won. Why are they are surprised though, since it was already in the nominations? Is it cause most people have not seen it, and if they had, the probably would not have been surprised cause it's that good?



I really don't see what all the debate is about tbh. This certainly isn't the first time a film has been nominated for an Oscar in both the Foreign Feature and Best Picture categories (as well as Best Director or Screenplay on top of those two).

But now that an international feature actually won Best Picture (for the first time) in addition to Best Intl. film, there's a bull session about the notion all of a sudden?

Questioning its (perceived) "fairness", or suggesting that it'd be better for non-American directors to choose between those two categories, or among any categories in general — for an award that's already been discredited by absurd campaigning for the past ~25 years — is an attitude in lockstep with industry whales that have collectively slashed the amount of filmgoing options offered to the LCD market for decades.

Considering how long the Oscars have been proudly insignificant in regards to greater film culture, I don't see how the idea of an international film winning in both its traditional category and Best Picture can be anything but a silver lining. The most publicized and frenzied film ceremony held in America choosing a non-English (further, non-Western) film as "best in show" is the most likely action to make present day Hollywood producer potentially reconsider the market appeal of non-English films in America. (Even as someone who doesn't recognize any authority in the Academy or their awards regarding the world of cinema, I can't ignore how this Best Picture win is the first example of a something having even the slightest possibility of a positive cultural impact that I've seen happen at the ceremony in many years.)

But just to reiterate: International and foreign language films have been getting nominated for both Best Picture and Best Foreign Film (among other categories) at the Oscars for a long time. The so-called debate in response to that occurring this year, for reasons that remain arbitrary at best, is nonsensical.



I'd equate it to baseball awards. There is a Cy Young for the best pitcher. Then there is an MVP for best player. A pitcher can win a Cy Young and the MVP while a position player can only win MVP. I can see both sides of the aisle on this, some arguments have both valid sides (alot in life as well). It seems sort of unfair that a pitcher can win the Cy Young and the MVP, Cy Young is sort of the pitcher MVP. But it also seems unfair that a pitcher can't win MVP as well as a Cy Young. It's the same with international movie award and best picture award.

I kinda lean towards being available to win both. But here is the deal. It better be clear cut that Parasite is the best movie over the other movies. Just like it should be absolutely clear cut that a pitcher that won Cy Young and MVP was no doubt the best player. If it isn't clear then I think winning both International Movie and Best Movie kind of sucks.

Even though the Korean people who won were the most genuine winners of the night. They weren't jaded by American politics or the Hollywood system, so in the end I was happy to see them win, even if their movie wasn't clear cut the best. Refreshing to see pure gratitude instead of some agenda being pushed in a speech.
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Foreign language films don't deserve to be in the Oscars. Last time I checked, this was America. The Oscars are in America. Land of the english speakers.



Foreign language films don't deserve to be in the Oscars. Last time I checked, this was America. The Oscars are in America. Land of the english speakers.
This was what I was getting at earlier in the thread @Yoda ^



This was what I was getting at earlier in the thread @Yoda ^
I don't entirely follow, since that discussion was about the Academy and not just random moviegoers. I obviously agree that xenophobia exists, and sometimes influences people's reactions to Parasite.

It is kind of interesting that you and this other person have the same opinion about what the Oscars should do, though, albeit for very different reasons.



Welcome to the human race...
Foreign language films don't deserve to be in the Oscars. Last time I checked, this was America. The Oscars are in America. Land of the english speakers.
That's not a very neighbourly thing to say, MrRogers.
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I am still trying to figure out how a film called Parasite did so well in an Oscars with no host.
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It doesn't give foreign films an advantage over US/British films- if anything, it disadvantages them because they can be given Best Foreign Film as a consolation prize. Same with putting up multiple actors in the same picture for the same category- they split the vote.

The 'woke' comments on YouTube are a bunch of racists who won't admit to it. Parasite was a great film- I haven't seen the others so can't say whether they were better but in its own right, it deserved the accolade.



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Well I didn't think of the youtube comments as racist. They just felt that the foreign films have a double chance of winning a best picture Oscar, compared to the domestic movies. That's not racist, is it?



They don't have a double chance, that's not how it works, because they don't draw these out of a hat. So while it's not necessarily bigoted, it's incoherent and confused to the point of probably being motivated reasoning, or an objection in search of a rationale. And when you ask what might motivate that, the list is pretty short.



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Oh I thought they meant foreign films have a double chance at winning two best picture awards, if it is in the best international picture nominees, and the best picture nominees as well.



I mean, they can win a second Oscar, sure. But it's irrelevant to their chance of winning Best Picture, which I took to be the context.

If they win Best Picture it's not like they get extra credit for having won Best International Feature Film, too. Nobody cares about the latter in that event. So the only situation in which it even applies is one where the "extra" Oscar is superfluous and nobody really thinks of it because it's superseded by Best Picture anyway.

I think it's just finding something to complain about to rationalize a reflexive annoyance with a foreign film winning.



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Oh okay, I thought that those people did care, and felt that the movies were getting extra credit as a result, they felt.



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Oh okay, makes sense. Well I don't think that choosing Parasite for best picture was 'woke', like some people online are saying, cause Parasite is one of the best movies I've ever seen on the first couple of viewings so far. So I think it was chosen just because it was very good, and they had a good time with it.

If they had chosen a movie like say... Ip Man 4: The Finale, as best picture, then you could probably say they went woke?



Oh okay, makes sense. Well I don't think that choosing Parasite for best picture was 'woke', like some people online are saying, cause Parasite is one of the best movies I've ever seen on the first couple of viewings so far. So I think it was chosen just because it was very good, and they had a good time with it.

If they had chosen a movie like say... Ip Man 4: The Finale, as best picture, then you could probably say they went woke?
I haven't seen Parasite but most MoFos seem to love it, so I assume it won Best Picture because it was the Best Picture nominated. Personally I'm getting tired of all the tribalism going on these days (I don't mean you Ironpony, I mean the woke movement in general)