The Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences may have forgotten its charter. It seems to no longer care about giving awards to the best of the best in the motion picture industry, or protecting old films from decay that impacted our culture, but is instead now focused on answering to the politically popular.
A resignation letter was sent last April to John Bailey, AMPAS President, from board member Bill Mechanic, the former Fox studio chief, sharing a long list of serious problems that the organization failed to address. Mechanic was known for being nominated as a producer of Hacksaw Ridge.
In the letter, Mechanic reminded Bailey that “We have settled on numeric answers to the problem of inclusion, barely recognizing that this is the industry’s problem far, far more than the Academy’s. Instead we react to pressure.”
His suggestions that the #OscarSoWhite political bandwagon took the Academy off course included his mention and dismay for last year’s batch of invitations (774) to join the Academy that didn’t include a single white man, regardless of merit. This year’s invitation went out to a record-breaking 928 future members. By 2020, the Academy hopes to have doubled its number of women and diverse members.
No one doubts that Denzel Washington earned and deserved his nine Oscar nominations and two wins. His work and talent is obvious to fans, let alone the thousands in the industry that can speak to his techniques and why he is the best of the best. But with the flood of new Academy members that were invited in the name of diversity, rather than for having mastered their craft, the next Oscar going to an ethnically diverse actor may be questioned from the viewpoint of politics over talent.
While I’d agree that diversity must be addressed, it’s not the job of the Academy. Diversity can only increase at the studio and independent levels, with the exception of the Academy’s own staff and board. The Academy must return its focus to only inviting members who have mastered their craft after years in the industry rather than inviting newcomers because of their ethnicity.
Many industry professionals feel that the recent announcement of the “Popularity” Oscar takes the Academy even further away from its charter of awarding the best of the best. Heated discussions concerning this new award, which has no rules concerning how a film gets nominated, has studio executives struggling to get answers.
Some say that if the Popularity award is based on box office or fan favorites, the award will always go to Disney/Marvel/Pixar. Several have joked that Deadpool, the Ryan Reynolds’ popular vehicle, would win every year that it releases another chapter in the franchise.
Mechanic also mentioned the need to bring the Oscar award show into modern times concerning its format and look. But the Academy instead decided to show less awards next February and hope the Popularity Oscar will be enough to draw and keep people tuned in.
Unfortunately, the recent decisions no longer guarantee that budding artists, who count on the Oscars to point them in the right direction concerning artistic accomplishments and quality, may no longer be able to trust the now politically-driven Academy.
CJ's Corner 