There are two thoughts when it comes to The Oscars. One thought is that this is Hollywood presenting awards to their best and brightest films and those who contributed to making those films. The other thought is that this is Hollywood giving itself a self-congratulatory pat on the back.
It was announced yesterday that starting in 2020, changes will be made to the Oscar ceremony. The changes are as follows:
- Pushing up the air date from the end of February to the beginning of February.
- Cutting down the length of the show from four hours to three hours by announcing some awards during commercial breaks. The announcement of the winners of these categories will added later in the broadcast.
- Creating a new category entitled “Outstanding Achievement In Popular Film”.
I have to admit that I agree with these changes. Let’s be honest, the Oscars can be boring. As important as categories such as lighting design and set design are, the average movie fan is not watching for these categories. It’s the acting nominees that we care about. Those are the ones that we stay up late to watch.
I also appreciate the new category. It will hopefully give a spotlight to films that are appreciated by fans, but are often overlooked by the Academy because they are not as artsy as other films.
Only time will tell if the changes will raise the declining ratings of the Oscars. I personally hope they do, because I enjoy watching the Oscars, but that is my opinion.