Friday, March 09, 2018

The Autumn of the Oscars




Ross Douthat in The New York Times analyzes the decline of the Oscars. An excerpt:

The key problem for the Oscars is not, as Hollywood’s critics on the right sometimes suggest, that the movie industry’s liberal politics are dragging down both box office numbers and Oscar ratings — that the desire to preach is swamping the desire to entertain. There is a political problem, but it is secondary: The key issue for the academy is that the Hollywood system no longer produces enough of the kind of movies that a mass-audience awards spectacle requires.



[HT: Jim Stroup]

2 comments:

Kurt Harden said...

While I would describe my reaction as glee (that would imply too much interest), I do take issue with Douthat's diagnosis. I think he is ignoring the culture war that is raging.

He writes: "The key issue for the academy is that the Hollywood system no longer produces enough of the kind of movies that a mass-audience awards spectacle requires."

Why doesn't Hollywood produce such movies? Surely the material for such movies is out there in books and screenplays and creative minds. I think the reason is because they too often look at movies as part of their cultural crusade. And crusade movies from Hollywood aren't very good.

My sense is they look down upon the viewers. A very dangerous viewpoint.

My reaction has increasingly become a yawn.

Michael Wade said...

Kurt,

I agree with your analysis.

In the past, they at least had the smarts to hide their contempt for much of their audience. Now they flaunt it.

Michael