The 'Cancel the Oscars' thing is just plain bulls***t. Here's why
Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 1:15PM
by Juan Carlos
I’ve been itching to discuss this for quite a while now. Ever since the pandemic, the way we watch films has dramatically shifted. Cinemas are now either closed down or maintained with stringent health safety measures. Drive-in cinemas have experienced a resurgence in popularity due to their safer conditions. Meanwhile, we have seen films dropping on streaming platforms, VOD, and virtual cinemas at such a rapid rate that it is quite hard to even keep track of what is being released.
Meanwhile, AMPAS made several changes in its rules to adjust to the current world we are living in. So for the first time, the Academy allowed streaming-only films in as long as there was an intention to exhibit them theatrically (I still don’t know how they would prove intention, but that's another discussion). Also, they have extended the eligibility period: from January 1 to December 31, 2020, it will now extend until February 28, 2021, a move that seemed hastily done months ago and now makes even less sense since majority of the films that were supposed to screen in the last months of the year in cinemas have now moved to late 2021 anyway.
And then this opinion piece from the Washington Post happened.
In an article that adds itself to the chorus of people saying that the Oscars should be cancelled in its entirety, the writer asserts that the Oscars should be cancelled because...
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The number of Oscar films are bound to drop compared to what Academy voters and Oscar watchers consider in a normal year.
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It would be harder for people to convene for the Oscars ceremony.
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Making the Oscars socially distanced would defeat the point. If it is done in Zoom, then glamour is dead.
UGH! Let's get as candid as possible but also substantiate it with facts to debunk these three points, especially the first one.
Point 1. The number of Oscar films are bound to drop compared to what Academy voters and Oscar watchers consider in a normal year.
Sure, the number of films that screened in actual cinemas did drop precipitously. But when we follow the new Academy rules, which allow for streaming, did they? The answer: not really.
While there is no singular record of all the films this year that were released in different platforms (and we are not yet factoring in how many of these films would actually do the paperwork to become "eligible"), we have a healthy number of films that are viable contenders or will at least be eligible.
A number of genre films received considerable buzz this year. Unlike past years when the types of films up for Oscar consideration have been noticeably homogenized to the typical genres -- biopics, dramas, true stories, message movies -- films in other genres have had people talking in 2020: horror (The Invisible Man), action (Tenet), comedy (The King of Staten Island), superhero (Birds of Prey), period comedy (The Personal History of David Copperfield), and sports (The Way Back) and all of those films could be considered legitimate contenders for some category or another this year.
Streamers like Hulu (Palm Springs), Amazon (One Night in Miami, Sound of Metal), Apple TV+ (On the Rocks, Cherry), and Disney+ (Soul) all have placed their bets in the Oscar game too. Meanwhile, Netflix is an animal of its own, with several contenders already under its belt and more to come. Some of them are actual Netflix productions (Da 5 Bloods, I’m Thinking of Ending Things) while other have either migrated from other studios (The Trial of the Chicago 7) or been picked up at festivals from Sundance (The Forty-Year-Old Version), Venice (Pieces of a Woman), or Toronto (Bruised, I Care a Lot). And that's not yet even talking about their future releases: Mank, Hillbilly Elegy, or Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
This has also a banner year for independent films. Without the usual ways of growing its audience (for better or for worse), these films have had to find comfort in VOD and virtual cinemas. We've seen an unprecedented dominance of works from directors that are female, POC, or from other minority groups: The Assistant, First Cow, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Emma, Shirley, and Miss Juneteenth are just some of the early releases directed by female filmmakers that continue to find passionate audiences. Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari, Andrew Ahn’s Driveways, and Isabel Sandoval’s Lingua Franca are just some of the films this year from Asian filmmakers that have received critical acclaim. A lot of the films already mentioned are from people of color too: Regina King, Spike Lee, Radha Blank, Channing Godfrey Peoples.
Non-English titles could also make a dent in the awards conversation in a perfect world. International Feature submissions from last year that weren't nominated or released in US theaters in 2019 (and are therefore theoretically eligible) include And Then We Danced (Sweden), A White, White Day (Iceland), The Painted Bird (Czech Republic), Beanpole (Russia), The Whistlers (Romania), Those Who Remained (Hungary), and In the Life of Music (Cambodia)s. Netflix has its own stable of non-English language films that have sparked some conversation including The Platform (Spain), I’m No Longer Here (Mexico), Nobody Knows I’m Here (Chile), Cuties (France) and The Life Ahead (Italy) starring legend Sophia Loren. Other buzzy non-English language titles have been picked up by distributors like Neon (Ivory Coast’s Night of the Kings and Mexico’s New Order) and Sony Pictures Classics (Mexico’s I Carry You with Me). Distributors like Film Movement, Kino Lorber, Music Box, and MUBI have their own releases.
While animated features are usually associated with blockbusters, this year does not lack in films that could easily compete in the Animated Feature category. Studios like GKIDS (Ride Your Wave, Children of the Sea), Pixar (Onward, Soul), Netflix (A Whisker Away, Over the Moon), and Apple TV+ (Wolfwalkers) are surely viable contenders for that category.
Documentaries are vital now more than ever, providing works that are simultaneously entertaining and enlightening. Significant releases include Crip Camp (Netflix), Beastie Boys Story (Apple TV+), Rewind (FilmRise), A Thousand Cuts (PBS), Spaceship Earth (Neon), On the Record (HBO Max), Athlete A (Netflix), Welcome to Chechnya (HBO Films), Boys State (A24), All In: The Fight for Democracy (Amazon), Totally Under Control (Neon), Assassins (Greenwich), and The Truffle Hunters (Sony Pictures Classics). Those are just some of a huge crop of documentaries released in 2020 that could be in the conversation for Best Documentary Feature. We have never had a documentary nominated in Best Picture yet so this is also high time given the ever-increasing significance of documentaries to our film and cultural discourse.
The Washington Post's point is nonsense. I have kept a spreadsheet of films released this year (to the best of my abilities) and I can confidently say, we have enough more than enough films in terms of quantity AND quality that would make a completely satisfying roster of Oscar nominees. I’m not just talking about major categories. I’m including the technical categories as well.
Now, let’s talk more numbers. Here are the number of films eligible for the Academy Awards during the past decade and the number of films that were actually nominated per year*:
2010: 248 eligible, 31 nominated (12.50%)
2011: 265 eligible, 32 nominated (12.08%)
2012: 282 eligible, 24 nominated (8.51%)
2013: 289 eligible, 29 nominated (10.03%)
2014: 323 eligible, 32 nominated (9.91%)
2015: 305 eligible, 28 nominated (9.18)
2016: 336 eligible, 35 nominated (10.42%)
2017: 341 eligible, 30 nominated (8.80%)
2018: 347 eligible, 27 nominated (7.78%)
2019: 344 eligible, 27 nominated (7.85%)
* Excluding shorts and specialty categories like Animated Feature, Documentary Feature, and International Feature Film UNLESS they were nominated in other categories too.
Just by looking at those numbers over the past ten years, we can already prove that regardless of the number of films released in a year (which has ranged from 248 to 347), the Academy usually only nominates less than 10% of theem. This goes to show that the number of eligible films does not always matter. If you go back to earlier years, the number of eligible films continues to drop (1980 has 192 eligible films, for example).
The longwinded point is that this argument that “we don’t have enough films” is utter bullshit. Instead of trashing the films we've had this year (yes, that is what articles like this are doing to the wonderful work filmmakers have put out this year), this is the perfect time to advocate for the films that might have been lost in the loud year-end shuffle in a "regular" film year.
Elisabeth Moss in The Invisible Man for Best Actress? Delroy Lindo in Da 5 Bloods for Best Actor? Sonic the Hedgehog for Best Visual Effects? Emma. for Best Costume Design? Women directors in the Directing category? Go ahead and support the films that you love! There's plenty of time to campaign for the films.
If I may point out a silver lining in this, traditional Oscar campaigning generally includes a lot of gatherings and parties, all to get some votes via socializing with voters and insiders. With physical gatherings out of the equation, awards strategists will do most of their campaigning online. Which leads us to the second point to dismantle...
Point 2 - It would be harder for people to convene for the Oscars ceremony.
With the pace of how the United States is handling the pandemic (Trump be damned), it is a realistic projection that we will not be able to have a physical ceremony for the Oscars even with that push to April. But does that mean that they HAVE to cancel the ceremony?
As shown by the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, you can do an awards show while maintaining safety protocols. And instead of being an alienating thing for the audience, it can even be a unifying experience to watch an awards show done remotely. To see these craftspeople and even actors in their homes, doing their part in fighting this virus, is actually a touching thing. I personally felt that watching this year’s Emmys and Zendaya celebrate with her family as she won Drama Actress,The Schitt’s Creek cast and crew jubilating back in Canada while wearing masks, Regina King graciously accepting another Emmy while encouraging viewers to vote, The Succession cast cheering for their Series win while in their own homes. We can still have great awards moments like these even if the ceremony is virtual.
Sure, it might be weird (okay, yes it is) but with the terrific film work in 2020, there is simply no reason to not give filmmakers their due. We'll just have to do it in a new way.
And the last one….
Point 3. Making the Oscars socially distanced would defeat the point. If it is done in Zoom, then glamour is dead.
Uhhh….. How to answer this? We celebrate the Oscars because of the movies. We may not always or ever agree with their choices, but the thing that makes people come back to the Oscars is not just the celebrities in gowns, but the shared love for films. Again, I really liked how the Emmys did it. Some of the nominees dressed up, but some of them wore shirts and house clothes. And that is fine. We are living in unusual times, so let this year’s Oscars reflect it. Include the frontliners in the show. Show celebrities in their homes.
It is time to embrace the peculiarity of this film year and let that translate to this year’s nominations. Different doesn't mean bad. We have plentiful reasons to celebrate this year in film and we can surely do that from the safety of our own homes.
So, do your homework, start watching films, and shut this “cancel the Oscars” thing down.
Reader Comments (60)
ABSOLUTELY disagree that they should cancel the Oscars, but here's a curveball I would LOVE the Academy to throw this year: ALL FOUR acting categories must have, at least, ONE performance from a movie released pre-shutdown.
Candidates?
Listed in order of likelihood:
Lead Actor:
John Magaro, First Cow
Ben Schwartz and James Marsden, Sonic the Hedgehog
Anthony Mackie, The Banker
Matthew McConaughey, The Gentlemen
Lead Actress:
Elisabeth Moss, The Invisible Man
Julia Garner, The Assistant
Margot Robbie, Birds of Prey
Anya Taylor-Joy, Emma
Riley Keough, The Lodge
Supporting Actor:
Ewan McGregor, Birds of Prey (I would love this rule if only for this alone.)
Jim Carrey, Sonic the Hedgehog
Oliver Jackson-Cohen, The Invisible Man
Rene Auberjonois, First Cow
Supporting Actress:
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Birds of Prey
Nia Long, The Banker
Tika Sumpter, Sonic the Hedgehog
THANK YOU so much for this. You've covered all the points. In some ways things could be BETTER this year for Oscar due to the current situation. We've always bemoaned the lack of imagination in the Oscar voters' preferences. This year they will be forced to use their imaginations a bit more, to think outside the box. For once the Oscars might be about the FILMS and not the red carpet or or some Oscar-baity film shoved down people's throats by a good PR team (THE KING'S SPEECH, cough, GREEN BOOK, cough). I remember the 1995 Oscars, when it just didn't seem like there was really much competition for Lead Actress. The award ended up going to Jessica Lange for BLUE SKY, a film that had been sitting on the shelf for three years and had finally premiered in the dog days of August,1994. I swear I remember Lange actually rolling her eyes on camera when she won, as if to suggest she knew it was so odd to win for a film she'd shot four years before by a director who had passed away three years earlier. But that win has aged beautifully. And Lange is now rightfully a Best Actress winner for a worthy performance, something she might never have gotten if it wasn't for that weird "no-obvious-contender" year. I'm actually looking forward to the COVID Oscars. If AND THEN WE DANCED, Chloé Zhao, Kelly Reichardt, Kantemir Balagov, MIchelle Pfieffer, or the like get nominations, it will be wonderful.
The ONLY way I’d be on the “cancel the Oscars” bandwagon is IF the Academy were still ruling that movies must be shown in theaters to qualify, in which case I’d say they shouldn’t be encouraging people to go to theaters during the pandemic and should therefore just cancel the ceremony IF they were being sticklers about playing in theaters. But they’re not, so...yeah, I see no reason to cancel the Oscars if they’re fine with streaming-only films being eligible.
And as others have pointed out, the fact that many big-budget studio movies have been postponed means we’ll likely get more independent nominees this year, which I count as a good thing.
"So, do your homework, start watching films, and shut this “cancel the Oscars” thing down."
Wow, I have never read anything so insulting here on this site. Did you borrow the line from Mean Girls or was it Heathers?
This should be reprinted in the Washington Post. Excellent article. Co-sign.
The Academy will have to do their work this year and watch things and nominate what they like instead of being spoon fed 10 movies which results in Joker, 1917, Irishman, OUATIH all getting double digit nominations.
The Emmys were painful to watch.
Cancel them. This year's crop of contenders would be stuff the average moviegoer has never even heard of. Ratings would be disastrous.
The second wave is here and you're an entitled brat.
Thank you for this great piece. 2020 has shown us great pictures and it would be insulting to the artists to presume they're not worthy of consideration just because their movies might not be as widely seen or fit as neatly in the Oscar narrative as we're used to. Bohemian Rhapsiody was worthy of four Oscars but First Cow doesn't even deserve to be considered? Make it make sense.
Applause
I agree. Do NOT cancel the Oscars. Even if the nominees are “bad” or scant, they’re representative of the year we had and the political climate.
And combining the years is an even worse idea. Yikes! Oscars are too “out of sight, out of mind” as it is.
I think the Emmy’s did a great job, for the record.
Yep - Emmys were awesome.
The only point I'd add is to counter the "There aren't enough films" argument. Let's not pretend that the Academy actually watches all the submissions. I spend all year watching movies and have never seen more than 125 in a single year. I'm certain most Academy members, who only start paying attention around the holidays, watch far fewer.
I think there may have been a legitimate argument to canceling the Tonys-- only 18 shows eligible, none of which are watchable now-- but that argument doesn't apply to the Oscars, given that there are many times that number eligible and all can be accessed at home.
Yep, First Cow is surely the frontrunner.
I lost my auntie to this I can't believe you're all so cruel.
Let the f*gs get our Oscars. It's all we have!
Basso -- I didn't say First Cow is the frontrunner, only that it should be allowed to compete. It deserves consideration even if they'll ignore it like they ignore all Reichardt pictures.
Thank you for this. Articles like the Post piece feed into the idea that the Oscars are not the Oscars unless there's a red carpet and copious Oscar bait nominated. This is a peculiar, unique year and let the Oscars reflect that by nominating films that otherwise would've have made it.
WTF is First Cow?
Bree -- A marvelous film you should watch if you're interested in cinema beyond the usual conventions of Oscar buzz.
This article is totally on point. The very idea of doing away with the ceremony is just absurd and so fatalistic. Whatever happened to the ol' Show Must Go On ethos?
You made a stupid comment. It's not unprecedented.
Basso -- I'm trying to be polite here and would appreciate if the same courtesy was extended back. If I offended you, in any way, I apologize as it wasn't my intention. I've loved many films this year and would be sad if they were taken out of consideration for the Oscars because they had the misfortune of getting released in this annus horribilis.
As First Cow sits atop my personal list of Best of the Year (so far) I used it as an example. Perhaps something more mainstream and closer to AMPAS' tastes would have been a better example, I admit. Forget First Cow and think of Delroy Lindo's great performance in Da 5 Bloods. Shouldn't that be considered for awards?
Doesn't seem very smart to go on with a telecast that is going to tank the ratings.
To be honest, forced with screening as the only option, I have watched more MOVIES, more PLAYS, more CONCERTS, and certainly more TV during the last six months than I would have ever had time for (or money for) before. Including a lot from the UK and other countries.
And, quite frankly, the quality has been insanely good. Cancel the Oscars? No way. Lots of good stuff to nominate, not just the usual tent poles. Plus, I think the Academy voters, with the industry shut down, has LOTS of time on their hands too so they are probably able to watch more than usual handful, and can actually make INFORMED decisions.
(sorry for the capitalization...just so MAD)
Very well thought out observations! I still wish they would gather for the April ceremony with distancing of course without an audience. They should emulate what Koreans did in their Baeksang awards with only the nominees celebrated inside the ceremony.
Oh, and re Hillbilly Elegy, as much as I love the acting of Glenn Close and Amy Adams, I seriously don't give a flying f*** about seeing any more stories about poor white folk, unless it involves Jennifer Lawrence skinning a squirrel.
@Gecko
Unless you're a member of the governing board or an ABC executive, there's no reason to care about what the ratings will or don't do. Besides, it's well past time the Oscars stream on Netflix or elsewhere.
I could not agree more! There will always be movies to honor/celebrate, people just need to get used to looking outside of the usual places. The same people who normally rail against the Oscars for lacking imagination want to cancel them until we can get all the usual suspects back in play...MAKE IT MAKE SENSE! We could be in for a really exciting and diverse group of nominees. I'm looking forward to it, no matter how it shakes out.
The Emmys were terrefic. Please don't cancel the Oscars.
Yes, a really well-argued piece.
I guess there are people out there who see SPOTLIGHT, THE GREEN BOOK, THE ARTIST, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE and THE KING'S SPEECH as worthy Best Picture Oscar winners. I, for one, am glad we're starting to get more tricky, interesting things like MOONLIGHT and PARASITE taking the gold. FIRST COW (which is a f***ing masterpiece) and AND THEN WE DANCED (as good as CALL ME BY YOUR NAME) would fit well with the emerging Oscar ethos. Of course it's also possible that this fluky year will finally earn David Fincher or Christopher Nolan their Oscars and, hey, those wouldn't actually be shameful wins, either. The Socially Distanced Emmys were fun. I really don't get all the self-pitying "let's cancel" stuff. It's really one of the most curious things of this sad, weird year.
Man. First comment and no one bit one way or the other. Sigh.
@Volvagia If it makes you feel any better, I read it and thought it was a slightly interesting, but finally bad idea--so random and setting a bad precident--but I didn't feel like I disliked it enough to criticize it.
Cancel Cancel Culture. Fuck this cancelling shit. It's made by a bunch of salty people who are never happy with anything. All they do is bitch.
The Oscars honor film excellence for any given year, regardless of perceived opinions of the quality of that year's slate of films.
The purpose of the Oscars is not ratings. Full stop.
Wonderful article Juan. Thank you for writing what I was feeling.
Ps I loved this year's Emmys.
Perhaps this crazy pandemic Oscars will help encourage people to watch films they might not have without a possible nomination (like First Cow). And maybe it will result in atypical nominees like Rachel McAdams (Eurovision) or Andy Sandberg (Spring Break) or Invisible Man or Da 5 Bloods. I'm not saying that those suggestions are necessarily what I would pick, but it might force voters to think outside the box. And that's good!
Great article. Of course, we just do not EVER cancel the Oscars. There obviously is no reason to.
And there will always be years when typical Hollywood production is lean. Look at 1978, when the Best Picture race actually had not one exceptional film nominated. The year had a steep decline in film production that year, and the Oscars made it through.
And bad ratings is the absolute worst reason to cancel the show. Ratings have sucked for years.
I'm definitely in the "don't cancel the Oscars" camp. The "lack" of films in consideration is NOT an issue. I think I heard somewhere that it'll likely be around 300 films eligible this year if things go according to current plans which is yes BELOW the past few years but pretty average from the look of things these past decade.
Also FIRST COW is pretty damn good.
I don’t know if canceling the Oscars is the answer. Will anyone care if it’s on? That’s another point. Despite a pandemic which forced most people so stay in and watch television, the Emmys ratings were seriously low.
To each their own, but there’s this broader idea that without the cinema to unite and excite people, what’s the point? Streaming the best picture nominees just doesn’t feel the same.
IF in fact it happens, I just hope they do a in person cerimony, with all the protocols, but IN PERSON. Audiences really DO watch the Oscars because of the red carpet, glamour and the stars. People want to see their stars. The Emmys was the most depressing show I have ever watched in my entire life and it had no ratings basically, because nobody wants a zoom cerimony. Also, I hope that really popular and enjoyable films get nominated. If it is to nominate "First Cow" type films, it is better to cancel it anyway. What a terrible film. It this is the meaning of an Oscar contender of the year, it means we have no real contenders at all.
#DEFUNDtheOSCARS!!!
I can't think of anything sadder than watching Mark Ruffallo win his Emmy on that awful couch.
The "you're not watching enough movies" or the "you're not watching the right movies" response that comes out of Gay Film Twitter in the mist of this pandemic is just pathetic. Pathetic lives, I guess.
@Penney-You're just jealous because you don't have a couch.
The Emmys were also up against Basketball and Football, one of the reasons the ratings were bad. They did the best that they could. Oscar could do the same.
I... just cannot work up much interest in the Oscars this year. I don't blame anyone for thinking they should be cancelled, but I also see Juan Carlos' point as well and he's more right than my feelings (lol, if that makes sense).
What's with all the homophobia from the "cancel the Oscar" boobs?
Purplerine - period.
Why is anyone taking this so seriously as to cancel? Girl, it's just the Oscars. Bad movies are nominated every year, this will be no different. Good stuff and bad stuff. Who cares. As Purplerine said, "let the f*gs" get their Oscars. There are enough good films coming out, streaming or otherwise.
Skipping is just dramatic and adding to the hype of the show. This hooplah will only help, and that's why they're drumming this up on the internet. But Hollywood has the money and resources. The telecast will still suck, though. I agree with whoever said the Emmys were painful. But we have to give out the gold, obviously.
@Daniella, right?? What's more pathetic than coming on a site largely populated by gay people who love Oscar and, after saying, "cancel the Oscars this year," get nasty and homophobic when others, predictably, disagree with you?