To Glamorize Egotism: Bad Publicity is Good Publicity for the Oscars

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Buckner/Variety/REX/Shutterstock (5367977cx)
Spike Lee receives Honorary Award from The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
7th Annual AMPAS Governors Awards, Show, Los Angeles, America - 14 Nov 2015

Buckner/Variety/REX/Shutterstock

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Buckner/Variety/REX/Shutterstock (5367977cx) Spike Lee receives Honorary Award from The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 7th Annual AMPAS Governors Awards, Show, Los Angeles, America – 14 Nov 2015

On February 28th, the Academy Awards will air on television to reclaim consumers’ attention from on-demand streaming services when such obstacles hold the film industry by the throat–that is, to entertain viewers at home with an awards show.  

But as racial controversy hits headlines, one would wonder how nominations are made, or, as Director Spike Lee states: “I wanna be in the room where it happens.”

Lee expresses his frustration with other Hollywood faces, such as Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, who have all declined their invitation to the awards ceremony in response to a second year of all white nominees in the acting categories.

On January 22nd, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the Academy’s president, announced that the organization’s membership would undergo a profound makeover. Individuals who have not been active in film for at least a decade would lose their voting privileges, as a means of weeding out excess members.

In addition, the Academy has invited a record 322 new members, including actor David Oyelowo (Selma) and actress Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), a part of their said goal to double the amount of female and minority members by 2020.  

There have been mixed responses from Academy members concerning these changes.  While liberal minds praise these steps, others find them outlandish.  Long-time Academy member and Documentarian Keith Merrill says, “I’m sure I’ll sound racist, but I’m not. I think it’s completely ridiculous to bring in ethnicity to the evaluation of creative performances.”

Does remodeling the demographic of the organization achieve diversity?  This may calm a few actors-turned-racial-equality-activists hurt from not being nominated, or others who are genuinely tired of another all-white panel of nominees.

Spike Lee interjects further:  “As I see it, the Academy Awards is not where the “real” battle is. It’s in the executive office of the Hollywood studios and TV and cable networks.”

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) represents the overall demographic of the film industry: Mostly male and caucasian. Yet, is the Academy to blame, or the outside influences that keep the organization alive?

That is why the Academy alone doesn’t have a say on who is nominated, even if this results in a racial controversy.  The focus should be on the production companies that act as the underpinnings of the film industry, including Warner Bros., Universal, and 20th Century Fox.  Most chief executives of these major studios are members of the Academy–Members that don’t favor the same beliefs as the general public.  Diversity is not a major concern; economic prosperity is.

Two graphs have been compiled, displaying the distribution of nominations received by the production companies and distributors–determining who dominates the Oscars.  Unfortunately, most of the major studios recorded do not have many racial minority actors in their nominated films.  More nominated films stem from a celebrity culture comprised mostly of white actors.
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Thanks to categories recognizing foreign films, documentaries, and short films, independent studios and foreign studios garner more attention from Hollywood’s elite to gain substantial relationships with funding partners. That is a bonus incentive for an award show.

Yet, the major purpose of the awards ceremony is to keep the film industry in good health.  A foreign category increases international film revenue. Moreover, major studios like 20th Century Fox aim to generate money from their nominated films, even if their prominence sheds a light on Academy’s bigotry.

As evidence, the organization was founded in 1927 by Louis B. Mayer, arguably the wealthiest man in Hollywood at the time, who was also the co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM).  Even though the company endured Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it lives off of co-distributions with fellow major studios, including 20th Century Fox, but this notion of ‘you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ has carried along for years of recycling old money, that is, there is a harmonious code to nominate films in need of more attention.

It’s an interesting coincidence for Jim Gianopulos, the chairman and CEO of 20th Century Fox, to also serve on the Academy’s board of governors on the executive branch.

As a recent example of exercising his authority, 20th Century Fox has earned the most nominations amongst major studios, as previously mentioned.  This was achieved through their 12-time nominated film The Revenant–this year’s film reaping the most nominations.

The Revenant–a production cursed by incessant location searches, egocentric fist fights, diseases, discharge, a producer who left the project–suffered from inflation when the budget increased by an extra 75 million dollars.

To save the production from financial ruin, an awards show can grab the attention the production needs for fiscal durability.  One cannot forget though, the quality of a film determines its commercial success at the Oscars as well.

There are others like Gianopulos; preeminent leaders with Academy membership who peculiarly retain their membership through protection by the organization.  Despite changes to be made for greater diversity, the adjustments exclude those who have served in the Academy for 30 years or have been nominated for an Academy Award.

There is still much to be wary of entering the 88th Academy Awards, excluding the chance for Leonardo Dicaprio to pick up his long-desired Academy Award.

Spike Lee, who engaged in criticism against the non-white nomination listings, still won an honorary award at the Oscars’ Governors Awards.  The screening of his acceptance speech, charged with insurgence, may or may not be shown during the broadcast.  After all, he will not be present for the ceremony.

If you ever thought the Oscars seemed biased, you were definitely right.  Nevertheless, the rejuvenation of a struggling film industry is vital–and also, who doesn’t like giving out pretty awards for the love of film?