The 98th Oscars ended with many noteworthy moments, from Michael B. Jordan’s Best Actor win to the very rare occasion of a tie in the short film category.
However, even with these breakthroughs, I couldn’t help but think about how personal biases are bound to impact not only which films win an Academy Award, but also the entire award season.
A recent LA Times article revealed that official Oscar voters were, in fact, voting for films based on “vibes” and were even “okay with checking off the watched box next to a movie they hadn’t even viewed.”
With one voter being quoted, “I don’t need to watch another Avatar movie,” and another saying, “[Cythnia and Ariana] creeped a lot of people out… they sucked the air off of the red carpet, and no one wants to go through that again,” in regard to their lack of nomination. This current voting pool reeks of unprofessionalism and outdatedness.
Not to mention the lack of diversity among voters, with the last public poll of Oscar voters in 2014 finding that voters averaged 63 years old, and that over 75% were white men. Despite the Academy’s pledge to diversify its voting body by 2020, there’s still no clear data as to how the current voting body stands today.
With a lack of accountability in the current Oscars voting scene, it’s clear that personal interests are sure to sway the eventual winners. With this bias established, it feels like the diversity of the voting pool becomes so much more important.
Of course, we’re all inclined to our own biases, but if a majority of voters are older white males, it’s safe to assume that their opinion will be the most prevalent in determining the winners.
For example, the film One Battle After Another won Best Picture, despite the push for Sinners to win following the support the film has gained from actors themselves.
At the Actor Awards in February, where awards are voted on by current actors in the guild, Sinners swept in what one can argue is a much more diverse voting pool when compared to the Oscars. Additionally, nearly every time Sinners won an Oscar, there was a standing ovation, emphasizing how much the industry loved this film. Then, why didn’t it win Best Picture?
One Battle After Another is a great film, no question. There’s just something to be said about a movie about war winning over a movie about the exploitation of black culture, with a voting pool we’re led to believe is mainly made of older white men.
The same mentality can be applied to the lack of international films winning this year, or how one of the only Asian winners of the night got their speech cut off mid-sentence. The Oscars want to seem diverse, yet lack the ability to follow through with their appearance.
There’s also something to be said about how Gen Z — and women — drive today’s culture. Many Oscar voters may as well be choosing to watch films based on marketing and social media campaigns that, guess what, Gen Z is at the forefront of.
There should be solid representation in voting for the groups that are at the forefront of cultural trends and that are doing heavy lifting in promotional material.
Bill Maher even pointed out in his late-night skit the irony of the lack of diversity in an awards show that promotes progressiveness.
“It’s a [room] of people terrified of looking like racists,” Maher quips, and with the women-only comedy panel and the diversity in presenters tonight, it seems like the Oscars are trying their best to be inclusive, yet the proof is in the pudding.
I’ll wait, Oscars, for you to drop the appearances and start holding your voting Academy accountable.
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