Thursday, June 19, 2014

Topic Of The Day: A Year Where The People Pick The Oscars

Hello, Bloggers, for today's Topic Of The Day, I figured I'd discuss an idea that will more than likely never happen, but that I would love to see come into fruition in the future, and that is about a year where the audience votes for who wins the Oscars. Here we go:

Each year, while there are usually happy faces whenever the winners are announced or if their favorites are even nominated, there are even glum faces when an audience member's favorite to win or find a slot in the different major categories is snubbed. But, one reason the public voting for the winners or even the nominees could be beneficial is ratings. Once audiences see films that are more up their alley on the Best Picture or even Best Director lineup, they will be more inclined to watch the ceremony. They could always go traditional and go for their usual smaller films but some mainstream films never hurt and could allow the best of both worlds to represent the Oscars. Also, if audiences vote online and they don't show the results, it could make the show less predictable. The Oscars would be more inclined to have upset wins, which in my mind, are pretty exciting and very rare nowadays.

Another benefit to the public voting for the Oscars is possibly less campaigning. The studios would never campaign for the public to vote, so that's why they have the Academy do so. So, if the Academy were to suddenly say "We're going to let the "people" decide who they want to win", then there would possibly be less ass-kissing and less politics because let's be honest, Oscar campaigning can get very aggressive. Just ask Harvey Weinstein. Even if the Academy were to post a list of films being considered and the public would get to make their own list of nominees in each major category from that list like what the awards site Gold Derby does with their special film and TV Awards, and the Academy would still get to decide who wins, then the much younger demographics would still tune in because their favorites would be on the different categories. Now, I am not saying that popular films like Twilight or any of Adam Sandler's comedies should have a fighting chance, but maybe films that the studios themselves believe in and that audiences have supported. I mean, think about it. Back in 2008, The Dark Knight almost made it on the Best Picture lineup and a film like that would've really helped the telecast if it was nominated for Best Picture. But, on nomination day, there wasn't really an audience favorite to be seen. One film that was nominated was The Reader, which Hugh Jackman admitted in his opening Oscar musical number that he himself didn't see. Even independent films that were modest hits at the box office or slightly popular with audiences, like Drive, The Place Beyond The Pines, and We Need To Talk About Kevin, would make audience members happy if they had at least one nomination in a major category. I'll admit that the one downside to that is that some of the smaller films looking for a wider audience wouldn't get much exposure, but luckily, they have different award shows and festivals that celebrate independent films.

So, those are my thoughts as to why the Academy should have a year where the public picks the winners and even the nominees. If you agree or feel any differently, please feel free to write in the comments section. Thanks for reading!

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