Dear Motion Picture Academy,
So I hear that you’ve decided to expand the number of Best Picture nominees from 5 to 10.
On the one hand, it’s awesome that now Pixar has a guaranteed Best Picture slot every year. And maybe some of the foreign movies that are ineligible for Best Foreign Language Film due to the ridiculous foreign film rules will get some love.
On the other hand, everyone seems to be acting like it’s a great thing that now more popular films might be nominated. First of all, isn’t making a ton of money reward enough for popcorn films? And why is populism always treated like it’s such a great thing? All this really means is that now there’s even less motivation to make smart, challenging, interesting films for intelligent adults. The prestige of a possible Best Picture nomination was a key factor in getting many movies of that ilk greenlit, but now that studios can possibly get that same thing with some pandering popcorn films, why take a chance on an art house movie that might only make $5? Hasn’t the video game/comic book/sci-fi crowd taken over enough of pop culture already? Can’t I please just still keep my Oscars? Or are we now officially a nation of 12-year old boys? And sure, maybe more people will watch the telecast now, but who cares? Since when has bending to the will of the American public ever been proven to be a good thing? And also, if this means that any of those so-called "unimportant awards" will be bumped from the telecast...well I don’t even want to contemplate the length of the rant that that would inspire.
Look I realize I care too much (okay, WAAAY too much) about the Oscars, but we're all geeks about something. (Otherwise we wouldn’t be spending so much time on the internet.) And I'm just asking you to not mess anymore with the one thing in pop culture that I truly love. Thanks.
Yours truly,
fredtheonlnejournal
