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In a little over a month, the Oscars ceremony will be broadcast live on ABC.
The Oscars, forever broken, will yet again be in need of fixing.
But what if wedidntfix the Oscars?
What if we didnt even try?
This year, theyve outdone themselves.
(That movie will then proceed to … not get an Oscar?
But be mentioned, somehow?
Whatever, Im sure it will be super-exciting.)
Hilariously, a couple of those disappeared awards might actually go to some popular choices.
Change in and of itself is not a bad thing.
Over the past decade, the Academy has worked to broaden and diversify its ranks.
This has been an overwhelmingly positive development.
Cutting down on the film clips.
Doing away with the hosts.
And now, these most recent indignities.
But thats a broader sociocultural trend that changes to one ceremony will do nothing to solve.
Theyre still ahead of the pack when it comes to awards shows.
Meanwhile, the Emmys brought in under 7 million.)
(You want to be recognized for making a lot of money?
I seem to recalla Don Draper memethat you might want to reacquaint yourself with.)
So, thats the bad news.
They generate memes galore.
Thats because the show has always been well-suited for morning-after discussion.
Once upon a time, the Oscars regularly went viral before we even had a term for going viral.
There are probably things the Academy can do to build on that relevance.
Gutting the show itself is not one of them.
But the people behind the Oscars seem to be forgetting that.
They need to stop hating themselves and remember why theyre all gathering in that room in the first place.
