Since its inception in 1929, the Oscars, officially known as the Academy Awards, have been known as the pinnacle of cinematic achievement. From “Wings” to “Rocky” to “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” the Oscars have awarded some of the greatest films in history, but in my opinion, there are some very big issues with the Oscars: a need for a good host and a lack of racial of diversity amongst the Academy itself.
Arguably the biggest mistake of the Oscars, one they continue to make, is having a comedian as a host for an awards show about film. Someone who loves films, like Scorsese, Spielberg, or Nolan, should host it. Instead, they get a comedian to host it. We all remember the Chris Rock incident where Oscars host Chris Rock made a joke about Will Smith’s wife, so Smith slapped Rock in the face, but somehow, the most recent host was worse. Jimmy Kimmel never should have hosted a late-night talk show, let alone the Oscars. He’s barely qualified to host a podcast. In my opinion, Kimmel is a two-bit talk-show host who is outright disrespectful to his guests, those same guests who are the only reason Jimmy Kimmel’s show gets any views. First off, joking that the top movies at the Oscars were too long is just sad. I’d rather watch Oppenheimer, a three-hour-long movie, four times before I’d ever consider watching a single Jimmy Kimmel episode. Some movies are meant to be long. Then, to make matters worse, he joked that animated movies were only for kids, which is just wrong. Animation is a medium, not a genre. Finally, in his opening monologue of all things, he joked about Robert Downey Jr.’s former drug addiction to which the actor looked dismayed at the joke. Who do I think would be a better host? Someone who cares about film, and is an actor themselves. I think someone like David Tennant or if he was in better health, Michael J. Fox would be a perfect host.
Another major issue with the Oscars is the lack of racial diversity amongst the Academy. This was best seen in the award for Best Actress. The nominees were Lily Gladstone for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Emma Stone for “Poor Things,” Annette Bening for “Nyad,” Sandra Hüller for “Anatomy of a Fall,” and Carey Mulligan for “Maestro.” The Oscar went to Emma Stone, which I heavily disagree with. She had a great performance in “Poor Things” but Lily Gladstone’s performance in “Killers of the Flower Moon” was legendary, even Emma Stone herself was shocked that she won. I believe the Academy is racially motivated in their decision. The Academy is made up of many different individuals, but 81% of all Academy members are white. This lack of diversity amongst the Oscars is an issue. Films are diverse, so the Academy deciding who wins an award for best actress or actor should also be more diverse. Since 2000, there have been seventy-two actresses and actors who have won Oscars, and only twelve are people of color. Also, not a single Native American or Indigenous has ever won an Oscar, so Lily Gladstone would have made history being the first to do so. It wasn’t until 2002 where an African American actress won Best Actress with Halle Berry taking home the Oscar for her role in “Monster’s Ball” and to make matters worse, it wasn’t until 2022 that an Asian actress took home an Oscar for Best Actress. The Oscars are definitely seeing progress, but not enough. To solve this, I think the Academy would have to create diversity quotas for individuals who make up the Academy. This would ensure diverse films and actors/actresses have a fair chance to win.
Overall, this year’s Oscars showcased some issues that have been prevalent in the award ceremony since its establishment. In the future, there needs to be a more diverse make-up of the Academy to ensure diverse films are actually awarded. Films are diverse, so it only makes sense that the group deciding who wins some of the most prestigious film awards are diverse as well.
