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Holden, I think you are right that the anonymous ballots in the pieces you reference are a small subset of Academy Awards voters, and may not always be representative of a consensus view. However, I do think they are valuable data points, and when they trend in one direction or another, that's still valuable information, even if it is incomplete. I also know people personally who have seen "Power of the Dog," and none of them liked it, and I have pretty educated, literate friends.
It is, however, in my opinion, not really a debatable point that the Academy in the last several years has shifted quite dramatically to nominating a narrower band of film than were nominated in the past, which usually either focus on stories centering around marginalized groups, or that promote particular liberal viewpoints. I understand that you don't agree, and that's okay, but you can't pretend that there isn't evidence that this is happening.
BELFAST (an immigrant story, which is a marginalized group)
DON'T LOOK UP (centering around climate change, highly critical of anyone who does not prioritize it as the pre-eminent social issue of our time, or who doesn't focus on it enough)
DRIVE MY CAR (foreign film, and Japanese people are an underrepresented group. Foreign films like this have not typically been nominated previously for Best Picture very often, but yet in just the past few years, Parasite, this film, and Minari have all been nominated)
DUNE (I did not watch this, so I don't know if it fits the theme or not. I suspect that it doesn't)
KING RICHARD (focusing on a marginalized group)
LICORICE PIZZA (I don't think this fits the theme)
NIGHTMARE ALLEY (I did not watch this, so don't know if it fits this theme)
THE POWER OF THE DOG (gay theme, which is a marginalized group)
WEST SIDE STORY (focusing on inner city Hispanic youth, another marginalized group)
CODA (focusing on the hearing impaired, another marginalized group)
Of 10 films nominated for Best Picture this year, 7 focused on marginalized/minority groups. This is simply not how Best Picture nominees looked in the past. I think the problem here is not that these films are spotlighted. I think there should be room for all types of films, and if a film is well made, I'd be interested in seeing it even if it focuses on these groups. I may learn something! I think the problem here is that the majority of the nominees fit this category, and that doesn't leave much room for other types of films, which are more widely liked or popular, and which would be more widely embraced by both liberals and conservatives alike, but that don't fit this theme, to be nominated for Best Picture.