Why movies that win Oscars are no longer enjoyable

The Academy Awards used to honour entertainers but veered into dull cinema in the name of art

- MANU JOSEPH

Most working people are in marketing, one way or another, whether or not their department is called 'Marketing'. Also, most of the world's people are not in the arts. Yet, art has some of the world's best marketing, though it is not known as marketing, and is free. Think of awards or ceremonies of 'recognition'. Who is 'recognizing' the artist? A small group of people who are considered more discerning than most of the world. Yet this 'recognition' impresses most of the world. Though not as forcefully as before.

Many awards have lost their influence as the world has lost its reverence for pundits. The Academy Awards for films are not chosen by them, which is perhaps why they have endured. Thousands of the Academy's active members vote, and those members are mostly people who have written, directed, produced or edited films or acted in them, or participated in filmmaking in other ways. These Awards, also known as the Oscars for reasons lost to history, are the world's most useful awards. Yet, even they are in decline.

Last month, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences implemented a rule change for the next awards—that members must watch all nominated films in a category to be eligible to vote in the final round for that category. This means many of them have been voting without watching all the films—or perhaps any. This points to something charlatan-like. But it is not the most important or interesting reason why the Academy Awards have lost some of their mojo.