You won’t find too many awards shows left that still give accolades to the best actor or actress, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences still does, and that triggers a lot of folks in the industry.
I can’t imagine any of them refusing an Oscar over it, but the Academy Awards might be ditching the practice as soon as next year.
“It makes sense for every awards organization that still uses it to scotch this outdated categorization,” The Times carped, adding, “… the categorizations don’t fit every performer. Prominent nonbinary performers including Emma Corrin … have argued for non-gendered categories to include those who don’t solely identify as male or female.”
The 96th Academy Awards in 2024 were already targeted by woke purists years ago; in September 2020, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced future eligibility reforms to the best picture category, forcing nominees to qualify by meeting “representation” standards among the crew of the film, at the film’s studio, or chances for training and advancement related to the development and release of the said film. A film could not be nominated unless it met two of the four standards.
There’s no reason for us to care, except that Hollywood still has an increasingly underserved effect on the culture. Influence it may not deserve. When was the last time a nominee or winner for best film was a movie you’d go and see for free, let alone pay? I can’t think of anything recent, but I’ve not watched the award show in decades. If it didn’t influence the culture, I’d have no reason to mention it.
Not that there’s anything I’m missing. A “trade show’ that hands out trophies to elite leftists (with few exceptions) and industry insiders is hardly a draw for average Americans. It used to be, but its divergence from normal America has resulted in an award for declining viewers. Many Awards are given off-camera now, leaving the supposed marquee stuff for the small screen.
If they want to take awards away from each other by combining actor and actress to “performer,” have at it, but it’s a hollow gesture.
Until you stop referring to the little gold statue by a man’s name, it’s just more virtue-signaling BS.
