Can we talk about how little the Oscars matter?

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I get that award shows are fun, but I don't get what makes the Academy Awards the award show holy grail. It's not like we really remember who won/it matters as far as what's remembered. For the Academy Awards nominees of the 80s:

1980
Winner: Ordinary People
Most Culturally Relevant (of the five BP nominees): Raging Bull / Elephant Man

1981
Winner: Chariots of Fire
Most Culturally Relevant: Raiders of the Lost Ark

1982
Winner: Gahndi
Most Culturally Relevant: ET

1980
Winner: Terms of Endearment
Most Culturally Relevant: [same]

1984
Winner: Amadeus
Most Culturally Relevant: [same - but not particularly relevant]

1985
Winner: Out of Africa
Most Culturally Relevant: [same - but not particularly relevant]

1986
Winner: Platoon
Most Culturally Relevant: [same]

1987
Winner: The Last Emperor
Most Culturally Relevant: Fatal Attraction

1988
Winner: Rain Man
Most Culturally Relevant: [same]

1989
Winner: Driving Miss Daisy
Most Culturally Relevant: [same] or Dead Poet's Society

...the movie that won was only the film to make the largest cultural impact (of the film's nominated) four times. No one remembers what movie won, they just remember the movies that mattered and the Oscars aren't great at predicting what movie that's going to be.



Well, the movies that win the Oscars usually are very good but reflect conservative tastes: the people who vote for that are on average 65 years old so their tastes are very "old men" like tastes. Movies that are culturally more important reflect the preferences of younger people as well as casual film goers.

For example, Star Wars, is a film that resonated strongly with young people and in terms of the qualities that "Oscar people" value very much it's not stellar: it's direction and acting are not exceptional, it's the story and mythology that made it into a cultural symbol.

I wouldn't think Platoon is the most cultural relevant American film from 1986, in the top 100 of the 80's voted here Aliens ranked higher, for instance.



Well, the movies that win the Oscars usually are very good but reflect conservative tastes: the people who vote for that are on average 65 years old so their tastes are very "old men" like tastes. Movies that are culturally more important reflect the preferences of younger people as well as casual film goers.

For example, Star Wars, is a film that resonated strongly with young people and in terms of the qualities that "Oscar people" value very much it's not stellar: it's direction and acting are not exceptional, it's the story and mythology that made it into a cultural symbol.

I wouldn't think Platoon is the most cultural relevant American film from 1986, in the top 100 of the 80's voted here Aliens ranked higher, for instance.
Yeah, I wasn't researching anything post the nominated movies from that year (Aliens wasn't nominated).

Everything you said is really true. Knowing that though, I wonder why the Golden Globes for example are kind of seen as a joke and the Oscars are considered this holy kind of event/the pinnacle of awards shows across all mediums.



There's alot more money put into the oscars, it has more history than the other award shows. That's about it i think. The golden globes are decided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as well, they are more of an entertainment minded organization that focuses on all kinds of media. The Academy are entirely focused on film.



The Oscars is not made for casual viewers. To me, it's not about movies that everyone will remember, but more movies that are really well-made.

It matters to me, but to each his own.



The Oscars is not made for casual viewers. To me, it's not about movies that everyone will remember, but more movies that are really well-made.

It matters to me, but to each his own.
It's not like they really even reflect what are later considered the greatest movies to come out that year either, though.



It's not like they really even reflect what are later considered the greatest movies to come out that year either, though.
This is true. Don't think any awards have been consistent with this though. Looking at each decades this is how it looks in my opinion, not my opinion of the movies but how they are generally regarded critically as i understand it. Anyone correct me if i'm wrong about something.:

1920s/30s (there's only 2 winners in the 20s so i grouped them in here): 4/12 seem to be generally regarded as among the best of their time, with some others on the outskirts. Wings, All Quiet On The Western Front, It Happened One Night and Gone With The Wind. Mutiny On The Bounty and You Can't Take It With You seem to have a good reputation too although the latter may be largely because it is a Capra film that won best picture. The rest are forgotten.

1940s: 4/10 with a few others having a pretty good case. Rebecca (starting to get a better reputation in recent years as one of Hitch's best), How Green Was My Valley (obviously it beat Citizen Kane but regardless it is still regarded as one of the best films of it's time/all time by many), Casablanca and The Best Years of Our Lives. The Lost Weekend, Hamlet and Mrs Miniver are also well remembered. The rest are forgotten but i'd say that's a pretty good decade.

1950s: 5/10 All About Eve, From Here To Eternity, On The Waterfront, Bridge On The River Kwai and Ben-Hur. Marty is also fondly remembered.

1960s; 5/10 The Apartment, Lawrence of Arabia, West Side Story, My Fair Lady (not sure about this but it does usually seem to turn up on best american musical lists) and Midnight Cowboy. In The Heat of the Night, The Sound of Music and Oliver are also remembered.

1970s: 8/10. I'd say to some degree all of them except The Sting and Patton (although they are still well remembered) are seen as among the best american films of the 70s.

1980s: 3/10. Most of them are remembered simply because we are getting into more modern times, but i'm not confident they will be remembered 30 years from now. I think only Terms of Endearment, Amadeus, Platoon and Rain Man are seen as among the best american 80s films.

1990s: 7/10. Despite my feelings i'd say all of them except Dances With Wolves (i personally like it alot more than most of these but it's not exactly seen as a classic) The English Patient and Shakespeare In Love.

2000s: Don't think there's really been enough time to determine what's reputations have survived or not so i won't do the 10s, but i'd say only Return of the King and No Country's reputations as among the best american 2000s films has really stuck.



The Oscars are undoubtedly prestigious but true film fans will know that they're not that important. Some of the greatest films of all time haven't won Oscars but that doesn't stop them from being great. Although one thing to note here is that the movies that win a lot of Oscars are usually good too. Its just that some of the greatest haven't been rewarded occasionally.



First of all, I'm not sure what you mean by "culturally relevant", but I will say that the Oscars may not matter to the fans, especially when the films that they want to win don't, but the truth is, the Oscars have never been about the films that make the most money and they have never been about pandering to the fans. I can list hundreds of films, performances, and technical achievements that I think were Oscar worthy that didn't even receive nominations, but the Oscars are not about what I want. The Oscars matter to artists in the industry because it is a recognition of excellence in the industry that has been around for almost a century. They also matter to the money men in Hollywood...the men behind the business because, like it or not, Oscars often translate into box office receipts and have been known to springboard quite a few dormant careers. The Oscars may not matter to us, but they do matter to Hollywood and they always will.



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Can we talk about how little the Oscars matter? Don't say that at this site, at least not around Yoda, Holden or me.
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Personally,as someone who is not from the US and love ww movies,i really could care less about the oscars.
The best foreign category irks me to no end.
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Can we talk about how little the Oscars matter? Don't say that at this site, at least not around Yoda, Holden or me.
Or Gideon, who loves the Oscars

OP, of course the Oscars matter, they have become and institution and a yard stick by which the other film awards are measured.



I like your concept of culturally relevant. I for one think how memorable a movie was is one of the best objective ways to critique a movie. Over time the "meh overrated" movies drop out of conversation and the movie fans psyche, while the underrated ones tend to grow overtime.

from wikipedia. The below description of membership tells you pretty much how much the oscars matter. It's an insider club, a big reason you'll see famous directors win awards for their lesser movies after the academy realized they made a mistake not giving one to their earlier movies.

Just one angle, it's clear most foreign movies aren't seen by the majority of the "academy".
Old Boy, has not received any nominations from the Oscars.
Infernal Affairs, which the departed was based on, received no nominations while the departed won.
Wong Kar-Wai received no noms for any of his work. Yet, Moonlight, at best a hugely derivative work, at worst a reskinned version of his movies and "mood for love" mashed up won best film.

I don't want to be too harsh. It takes multiple viewings and time thinking to evaluate movies. I bet hte majority of hte academy views a film once (at most), there are reports of academy casting a bunch of votes for movies they haven't even seen. Of the members who've viewed them, what portion spent time thinking out hte piece of work they're voting for.

I've lost respect for pro movie reviewers; it's their job, not their passion and it shows. They have history of revising their reviews better once they find out the movie is popular and culturally significant. EG Ran, Matrix, and Fight club all had revised reviews. Then you have critiques on movies like Miller's Crossing and Starship Troopers where they either missed the entire point, or haven't even seen there was a point beneath the surface.

Thank god for youtube critics. The quality of reviewers i've come across, fans who've spent a lot of thinking, rewatching, and studying the films they love. I've seen some spectacular reviews an analysis on movies lately.
EG redletter's analysis and critiques of the star wars prequels,
this guys view the predator movie

or this one reviewing Paprika



According to a February 2012 study conducted by the Los Angeles Times (sampling over 5,000 of its 5,765 members), the Academy at that time was 94% white, 77% male, 86% age 50 or older, and had a median age of 62. A third of members were previous winners or nominees of Academy Awards themselves. Of the academy's 43-member board of governors, only six were female; Cheryl Boone Isaacs was the sole person of color on the board.[31]
June 29, 2016 saw a paradigm shift in the Academy's selection process, resulting in a new class comprising 46% women, and 41% people of color.[32] The effort to diversify the Academy was led by social activist, and Broadway Black managing-editor, April Reign.[33] Reign created the Twitter hashtag #OscarsSoWhite as a means of criticizing the dearth of non-white nominees for the 2015 Academy Awards. Though the hashtag drew widespread media attention, the Academy remained obstinate on the matter of adopting a resolution that would make demonstrable its efforts to increase diversity. With the 2016 Academy Awards, many, including April Reign, were dismayed by the Academy's insouciance about representation and inclusion, as the 2016 nominees were once again entirely white. April Reign revived #OscarsSoWhite, and renewed her campaign efforts, including multiple media appearances and interviews with reputable news outlets. As a result of Reign's campaign, the discourse surrounding representation and recognition in film spread beyond the United States of America and became a global discussion. Faced with mounting pressure to modernize the Academy membership, the Academy capitulated and instituted all new policies to ensure that future Academy membership invitations would better represent the demographics of modern film-going audiences.[34] In 2016, the Academy invited 683 new members that were made up of nearly half women and people of color, but it was still disproportionately white and male (89% and 73%, respectively); it is committed to doubling the number of women and minorities in its group by 2020.[35]



I'm just happy it encourages people to seek out movies that aren't about cartoon animals or superheros.
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I'm just happy it encourages people to seek out movies that aren't about cartoon animals or superheros.
Adults have always gone to see movies made for adults. The reason tent poles do the money is they are made to appeal to a very broad demographic, so that's who go to see them. There has always been room for all types of films, and always will be.
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Well I guess you could say why do any awards matter. In this case it's giving recognition to all the people who work so hard on movies to give the rest of us screen entertainment.