Do the Oscars even matter? A conversation with critic Shawn Edwards
As an awards show devotee, I watch with alarm at how ceremonies like the Oscars are losing audiences and losing their catche.
With the downturn in movie theater attendance and more people turning to streaming, it seems like there’s just no more excitement around the Academy Awards.
It’s not just Covid, it’s the culture in general.
In looking through #filmtwitter to see if there are thoughts on what can be done, I noted Shawn Edwards, film critic for Fox 4 in Kansas City as well as Executive Director of the Celebration of Black Cinema (as a part of The Critics’ Choice Association), had a lot of provocative and interesting thoughts about the Golden Globes and the Oscars.
So, I hit him up to appear on my podcast, Filmsnobs.com, so I could ask what he thought award organizations could do in order to adapt to the times.
It seems that, perhaps, I was asking the wrong question. “We no longer live in a singular society when award shows were so prominent,” Edwards notes. “The Academy still acts like there are three television stations where the industry has a monopoly on films or talent. They are acting like it’s 1965 still. It’s not even 1995 anymore.”
Edwards criticizes the Academy for failing to recognize genres like science fiction or horror. “That’s ignoring a whole audience who think of movie stars like Mia Goth and not Brad Pitt. So the fact that the Academy has a singular list or a singular consensus just does not look like the current culture.”
But there’s also a matter of the structure of the ceremony. “When the audience can check out results on social media or watch clips later on, there’s no patience for sitting through a four-hour television show.” I had to admit I did not watch the nominations in front of a tv but in line at my kids’ daycare as categories were updated on social media.
Edwards’ argument is that Academy is so behind its audience’s taste and expectations that there is no way for it to ever catch up. I asked if the Academy’s efforts to diversify its membership would ultimately help.
That’s ultimately an issue of money in the industry. “Movies about black women can’t get the money. If the people with the money don’t look like you,” Edwards notes, “they aren’t going to relate to the story you are pitching.” Thus, there will be no films and no performances to recognize.
Which leads me to the question I like to ask other film people: if award shows are struggling, isn’t that a shared fate of the film industry overall?
Edwards shared the opinion that movie theaters will be reserved for “events” or for theaters that curate programming. “Classic screenings, themes around those movies, and make it something clever that causes someone to get out of the house.” (Think Ragtag’s Extra Credit series with movies and engaged conversations afterward.)
It’s not just the new “John Wick” sequel that will be best suited to a big auditorium but also a “Back to the Future” themed screening where people are encouraged to dress up. But, Edwards points out that this is the same problem faced by the Oscars. “We still expect people to sit through the Bob Hope host. They want something different”
What saved the Oscars this year, Edwards asked me. I shrugged. “Will Smith. Everyone talked about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock and they tuned in.”
Maybe Will Smith should have been named as the host this year rather than being banned for ten years, I suggested. Edwards laughed. “Will Smith saved the Oscars. For a few years anyway.” After that, “the Oscars need to be blown up and we need to start from scratch.”
As an example of what would fill the void, Edwards points to the Critics’ Choice Association and The Celebration of Black Cinema just had its fifth annual ceremony. “Competitive art is weird in of itself,” Edwards says. Fair enough.
This ceremony recognized Angela Bassett for Lifetime Achievement and Barry Gordy as an Icon for Motown Productions. “There’s no tension to the event because everyone knows who is going to get a win,” Edwards said. “You aren’t sitting there all night wondering if you’re going to lose. It’s more engaging and a really wonderful night.”
No one had ever recognized Gordy for his movie work, Edwards notes. Bassett has never won an Oscar. “The awards landscape is going to be different and this is the direction it’s going to move.”The Celebration of Black Cinema is being broadcast across the country and you can Google it to see if a TV station in a major market and stream it online. It’s a very cool idea that should get more attention.
But, if you want to listen to our conversation, go to filmsnobs.com and download it. Or search for Filmsnobs.com on Apple or Spotify. While I will still continue to carry on about awards season, the conversation offers some food for thought about how entertainment is evolving and how things will change moving forward.
James Owen is the Tribune’s film columnist. In real life, he is a lawyer and executive director of energy policy group Renew Missouri. A graduate of Drury University and the University of Kansas, he created Filmsnobs.com, where he co-hosts a podcast. He enjoyed an extended stint as an on-air film critic for KY3, the NBC affiliate in Springfield, and now regularly guests on Columbia radio station KFRU.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Owen: Do the Oscars even matter? A conversation with a fellow critic