The release of Oscar nominations never fails to generate a firestorm each year. Pundits spend hours debating the biggest snubs and surprises before the event and then questions many of the choices made after.
"BLACK PANTHER's unprecedented success is a remarkable achievement for black filmmaking."
THE OSCARS: "Let's make up a new ghetto category so we don't have to give it Best Picture."#Oscars #BestPopularFilm #BlackPanther #Marvel
— Nolan Zugernat (@NolanZugernat) August 8, 2018
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences will be making changes that may alleviate some of that talk. Though an exact date has not been given, the Academy announced on Wednesday the addition of a new category that honors achievement in popular film.
Next up, the #Oscars will announce categories for Cutest Couple and Most Changed Since Freshman Year
— Samantha Highfill (@samhighfill) August 8, 2018
What exactly does this award entail? The Academy has not released any information regarding eligibility requirements, but the motivation behind the award is clear: the Oscars are looking to attract viewers.
The point of expanding the Best Picture category was to recognize more popular films (re: The Dark Knight). Maybe focus on improving/diversifying the voting membership and enforcing that voters actually watch movies rather than create new nonsense categories. #Oscars
— Tom (@DarthInternous) August 8, 2018
With all the problems regarding rising prices for the theater going experience, continued incidents of sexual harassment, and the continued lack of diversity in Hollywood, it is nice to see the Academy has its priorities straight: rewarding the blockbusters that made billions of dollars.
