The 90th Oscars was a flop.

 With a record low of 26.5 million viewers, the March 4th telecast ratings had dropped 20% from the previous year.  To boost their program’s popularity, the Academy made three significant changes: They shortened the telecast to 3 hours and set an earlier airdate for the 2020 broadcast.  The most controversial change, however, was adding a new category: “Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film.

The new category has received an overwhelmingly negative response from movie lovers and Academy members alike because, while a new category could mean a larger variety of movies, the award seems to celebrate the popularity of a film and forgoes recognizing its quality.

In her column about the new category “At last, an Oscar for popular film. Because who needs another The Shape Of Water?” Hadley Freeman celebrates the new category and points out that while quality films are given the title of “Best Picture,” popular films that have had an actual influence on pop culture are snubbed.

“Take the 1986 Oscars, where the big winners were “Out Of Africa,” “Kiss Of The Spider Woman,” “Prizzi’s Honor.”  All solid movies, no question, none of which you’ve seen since 1986. And what little film was fobbed off with best sound effects editing?  “Back To The Future,”” Freeman said. Now, I’m not saying “Out Of Africa” shouldn’t have won. But I am saying “Back To The Future’ should definitely have also won. And so should “The Dark Knight, Batman,” “Alien,” “Dirty Dancing,” “Bridesmaids,” and “Terminator 2,” none of which even got a best film nomination.”

But Freeman fails to recognize that the academy has nominated countless popular films for “Best Picture.”  According to Box Office Mojo, the top 9 grossing films of all time (“Gone with the Wind,” “Star Wars,” “The Sound of Music,” “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Titanic,” “The Ten Commandments,” “Jaws,” “Doctor Zhivago,” The Exorcist) were nominated for Best Picture, and “Gone With the Wind,” “The Sound of Music,” and “Titanic” all won.  Perhaps the issue isn’t that the Academy isn’t giving today’s popular films the recognition that they deserve because they are popular- it might just be because they aren’t good.

According to Business Insider, the top 10 grossing films of 2018 include “Justice League,” “The Fate of the Furious,” “Despicable Me 3,” and “Beauty and the Beast.”  All of these movies are either sequels or adaptations- or both! The sad truth about these films is that they are simply cash grabs made by big studios because they know that people want to see what will happen to their favorite characters.  They don’t have to be good films- they just have to give the people what they want.

I will concede that there are issues with the films that are nominated for “Best Picture.”  For example, since the 1970s, the nominees for “Best Picture” have consistently been dramas.  That, and the academy’s favor for indie films have caused critics to scoff and claim that the Oscars are “too pretentious.”

The largest complaint is that comedy films have been forgotten by the Academy.  Perhaps this new category will give movies like “Crazy Rich Asians” a chance to win an Oscar.  But is getting an Oscar because you made a popular movie really an achievement?

“When I first heard of the category, the first question I had was, ‘What is the criterion for being nominated in this category?’” said Sterling K. Brown, who played  N’Jobu in “Black Panther,” at an  FYC event for “This Is Us” at Paramount Studios.  “If it’s something that can give [“Black Panther”] some sort of merit and legitimacy, then I think it’s cool. But I think “Black Panther” stands on its own merits regardless of its popularity as being a wonderful piece of art.”

Black Panther is a fan favorite for “Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film” award.  But is it really an achievement if its contenders are movies like “Avengers: Infinity Wars” and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom?”

I agree that the Academy should make a point to recognize a wider variety of movies.  However, the Oscars should focus on awarding artistic achievement, because, while the ability to make thousands at the box office is impressive, it speaks very little about the quality of the film.  Popular movies like “Black Panther” should have the same chances of being nominated for an Oscar as their dramatic indie counterparts, but they should be nominated because they are quality, not because they are popular.