I loved this nugget from from MCN columnist Noah Forrest’s constructive rant on how to improve the Oscars (Hint: he doesn’t think the Academy recent changes do the trick.) Rather than try and streamline the ceremony as the Academy has done by ditching the honorary awards (a fate that far too many people feel should befall the technical awards too), he actually wants to extend it:
Every year we hear the same complaint about how the show is too long. The people complaining about this are the same folks who buy tickets to a baseball game and then whine about how the game is so slow. If you’re tuning into the Oscars, you are already expecting that the show is going to be a bit long, so get over it. The Academy shouldn’t be trying to cater to those curmudgeons who want a shorter show.
It’s important to recognize who the audience is for this show; a large majority of the people who watch the Oscars are fans of film just like the people who watch baseball games usually enjoy that sport. Catering to people who aren’t particularly big fans of what you’re doing doesn’t really seem like the wisest move.
I couldn’t agree more. It maddens me when people imply that TV ratings should be the Academy’s first priority, and that the show — and, in the opinion of some, the nominees — should therefore be tailored to the tastes of a less cine-literate audience.
The days of the Oscars being an all-consuming ratings juggernaut are probably gone, no matter how many tweaks the producers make, so why not focus on pleasing your core audience first? True Oscar buffs care about who wins Best Cinematography, they enjoy seeing veterans acknowledged, and for all their occasional kvetching, they even like the marathon length of the show which lends it its sense of grandeur.
The casual Oscar-watchers who just tune in to see what Brangelina wore, and perhaps who won Best Actor, have the various edited highlights packages to fall back on afterwards. Let us geeks have our night.
Forrest has a host of other suggestions, which include adding his voice to those opposing the 10-nominee rule (arguing, like many others, that it diminishes the value of a nom), scratching the rule that prevents actors from being nominated twice in the same category (I’m on board with him) and scrapping Best Original Song entirely (not so much).
I also like his idea of televising the nominated shorts prior to the ceremony, but given that it’s enough of a miracle that the short awards are still broadcast at all, that should remain strictly a pipe dream. Read the rest here.
Comments
4 responses to “Amen, brother”
I couldn’t agree more. The length of the show matters not. If anything they should extend it more. Focus more on the technical awards, too. And I’m all for the Honorary awards. I always hate it when they talk about the longest show (something around 4 hours) having the lowest rating. Who gives a shit? I want to see the stars, see the speeches, have a funny host, watch the reactions and embrace all the glory of the movies’ biggest night. I’m always giddy as a schoolboy when I watch the Oscars. I stay to the very end, never changing the channel and even have the nominees list beside me all ready and checked with the films/actors I 1) who I think will win and 2) who I feel should win. It’s an experience. And I’ve never missed it since I was old enough to love movies. It’s the one thing I REALLY look forward to each year. So I completely agree, Guy, “let us geeks have our night.”
Cannot agree more, Guy!
As you said, “true Oscar buffs” (and there’s MANY of us!) care about who wins Best Cinematography”; and the plethora of precursor awards, televised here and there, many of which DO rely for the most part just on the star power of who will be in the audience, should be enough to satisfy the “average viewer” caring only about Brad, Angelina, Shia or Cameron.
I live in Italy, I saw my first Oscar night in 1986, when 15; and when I say “Oscar NIGHT”, I mean it: for us, it means following a show that begins at 3AM, local time.. I still remember, a couple of years, being late for school or university just because the show was running long and I didn’t want to go away without having seen “the Big Awards” at the end of the ceremony.
Did I care about being late? Not at all..
Did/do I think the ceremony is overlong? Yes, but I would regret muuuch more a shorter ceremony, deprived of technical awards, or “minor” (hate this word) ones, or, alas, Honorary Awards…
I agree with everything you’ve all said. And I especially agree that actors should be able to compete with themselves in the same category. If an actor has had that good a year, then why not?
Agree. Agree. Agree.
If the Superbowl can last ALL day, why not the Oscars damnit.
It was never about making a more streamlined version of the show. It’s ALWAYS about making an the most entertaining show.