In this special bonus blog post, I would like to talk about awards shows. Awards shows come in all shape and forms from the BAFTA’s to the Oscars, but the question I want to ask today is, do we really need them anymore?
Many people have issues with awards shows these days, some don’t like them because they feel like a smug circle jerk, celebrities congratulating themselves for being so great. With elements that take away from this and, poke fun at Hollywood being demonized; look at Ricky Gervais recently a lot of his jokes came at Hollywood’s expense and, a lot of the traditional institutions took him to task over it. Celebrities and the people who run the award shows don’t like people pointing out the absurd nature of the industry.
The other major complaint people have about these awards shows is their lack of diversity. Over the last few decades cinema has become more and more of a diverse place, some of the best films of the last ten years have been made by non-white directors. However, the awards shows don’t reflect this, the major awards shows still have white men, as most of their nominees. Look at the backlash against the Bafta’s nominees recently, with the Bafta’s calling on the industry to change is it really the industry? The lack of inclusivity is starting to become a real problem for a lot of people.
With issues like these, the question I pose to you all is, do we need these award shows anymore? These awards shows show no sign of changing any time soon; they might introduce the new category here and there but, is that enough? We as individuals can make up our own minds about what is and isn’t a good film and, we don’t need a group of deeply out of touch people, to tell us what to like.
There is no clear solution to the problem, though as what can be suggested? No more awards shows? Then the industry loses one of it’s best live events that millions of people still watch and enjoy. I think the only solution is to overturn the system and have a new body of voters, who can’t be bought and who actually watch all the submissions.
*An aside, faith in the academy who vote for the outcome of the Oscar’s should be low, as they don’t watch all the submissions which means a lot of films lose out, especially foreign films.
Not only that but, representatives of different studios throw parties for members of the academy and shower them with gifts in a blatant attempt to buy their votes, so how can we trust their verdicts to be honest and just?
Overall, people need to voice the change they want to see in Awards Shows, as nothing will be done otherwise, at least not quickly. Are they outdated yes but, people still watch them.
Another Millennial Reviewer 