Oscars 2019 will not include Popular Film category … at least for now
In a statement today, The Academy CEO Dawn Hudson noted that they are not going to put this much-maligned category into the ceremony this year in response to a great deal of negative feedback to the idea. With that being said, they are still committed to making changes to the telecast moving forward:
“There has been a wide range of reactions to the introduction of a new award, and we recognize the need for further discussion with our members … We have made changes to the Oscars over the years — including this year — and we will continue to evolve while also respecting the incredible legacy of the last 90 years.”
As we originally said in video form last month when this news first came out (subscribe for some more updates), we do have some issues with the Academy thinking that this is a good idea — certainly, it’s probably the result of conversations with ABC, who want to spruce up the show and boost viewership given that many Best Picture nominees are smaller films with smaller audiences. Yet, many popular films don’t want to focus on anything other than Best Picture anyway and the two separate categories create the implication that having a popular film means that you don’t get to be Best Picture. It feels like punishing a product for its own success. Personally, we hope that this is never a part of the ceremony and the Oscars remain largely as-is.
If we had anything to say about it, we’d just cut out some of the filler segments of the show to save time rather than one of the other proposed changes: Handed out awards for some lesser-known categories in commercials. This is the only opportunity for some of these people to have their moment and it’s rather awful that this could be taken from them.
Are you glad that the Popular Film Oscars category seems to be gone? Share now in the comments!
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