What Happened To The Academy Awards? Why Has It Lost Its Spark?

For decades, the Academy Awards were the Super Bowl of Hollywood and movie. It’s a night of glitz, glamour, and unpredictable moments, and for years it was an exciting event! I’ve been a movie fan my whole life, and I loved watching the Oscars! I enjoyed them, it was always fun to throw parties for them and get the freinds together.

But in recent years, the Oscars have become less of a grand spectacle and more of a boring, tedious, snoozefest of a broadcast that people don’t seem excited about anymore.

I was invited to an Osacr party last night and I mostly went to spend time with good friends. Well, this has been an annual Oscar party that used to be pretty big! This party started with like 30 people and over the years less and less people would show up. This year three people came.

So, what happened? How did the once-prestigious and fun event turn into an awards show that people don’t really care about anymore?

There was a time when the Oscars weren’t just a Hollywood event. People actually cared, and showed up at parties to predict the winners, and cheer on their favorite films like it was a championship game. It was a night of celebration, where movie lovers came together to talk about their favorite movies!

That sense of excitement existed because the nominees were movies people had actually seen and connected with. Audiences had a favorite that they were rooting for. This year the conversaton was like, “Have you even seen anyof these movies?!”

You talked about the movie with friends, you rewatched them with family, and you had an emotional investment in whether they won. Winning an Oscar meant something, not just to the filmmakers but to the fans who had fallen in love with these movies.

The Oscars don’t feel like they belong to the audience anymore. Somewhere along the way, the Oscars lost their spark.

One of the biggest reasons I bielve audiences have lost interest in the Oscars is because the movies being nominated and winning just don’t resonate with the average viewer anymore. A lot of movie goers haven’t seen the films that are nominted.

I talking to frineds about this years nominations, out of the ten films nominated the most anyone of them had seen is three. Three out of ten films! That’s crazy! These are people like me who go to the movies at least once or twice a week!

There was a time when the Best Picture category was filled with films that general audiences had actually watched. They knew the films they were rooting for, they knew what they liked and what they didn’t.

These days, the nominated films barely make a dent at the box office. How many people outside of hardcore cinephiles have actually seen some of these films, including Anora, which one Best Picture this year. I have yet to meet a people that has actually seen Anora, which I personally thought was a mediocre movie.

Sure, some of these film might be well-crafted, but these movie seem to lack the cultural footprint that previous film nominees had.

Without a connection to the films, there’s no reason for audiences to tune in. If people haven’t seen the movies, they have nothing to root for. The Oscars used to be about celebrating the films I loved.

Now, it feels like the Academy is handing out awards for homework assignments most people never bothered to watch.

Look, The Oscars are a reflection of the movies Hollywood is making, and maybe that’s where the real issue lies. I want to make one thing clear, I am a huge supporter of independent filmmaking. Some of the best and most creative storytelling comes from outside the big studio system, and independent films absolutely deserve recognition.

But there’s been a growing disconnect between the films Hollywood is producing and what general audiences actually want to see. The industry has deprioritized mid-budget crowd-pleasers, leaving only two extremes, the massive franchise blockbusters or hyper-niche indie dramas that, while often great, don’t always connect with the larger moviegoing public.

So, the result is the big-budget films that dominate theaters rarely get awards recognition, while the smaller films that win Oscars don’t get seen by most audiences.

In past decades, the industry had a better balance with movie that were both critically acclaimed and widely watched. Today, that middle ground has all but disappeared.

There is nothing wrong with awarding smaller, artistic films, the thing is general audiences aren’t watchving them.

One of the hallmarks of a truly great film is its rewatch facrtor, where you can watch a movie over and over again without the film losing its magic. Some movies are so compelling, so emotionally resonant, or just plain entertaining that no matter how many times you see them, they never get old.

Think about movies like The Shawshank Redemption, Jaws, Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas, or The Lord of the Rings trilogy. These films aren’t just great the first time, you can revisit them years later and still be completely engrossed.

But here’s the issue with many recently Oscar-winning films, they lack that rewatchability factor. They’re the kind of movies you watch once, appreciate for their artistry, but never feel the need to revisit. Films like Nomadland, CODA, Green Book, Moonlight, or Anora may have been beautifully crafted, but how many people are putting them on for a casual movie night or rewatching them?

There’s a difference between a movie that’s important and a movie that people actually want to keep watching. The best films do both. They leave a lasting impact and draw audiences back time and time again. Unfortunately, some of these recent Oscar winners feel like “one-and-done” experiences, movies that you respect but don’t necessarily love.

Hollywood and the movies that are being made are just evolving into something else, and it just doesn’t seem to be really connecting with movie fans, and it makes me sad.

This is all just from my point of view and discssions that I’ve had with friends, but if you have a different outlook on things please share! How do you think Hollywood can get back on track to where people care about the Oscars again?