Geeks logo

What is Wrong With the Academy Awards

And how to fix it.

By Tony OlivieriPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
Like
My earliest memory of the Academy Awards was in 1970. John Wayne striding up to the stage to accept his award for True Grit. I was ten-years-old and in utter awe. I thought to myself, "Now that's a movie star." He was larger than life, he oozed star power.

Sadly, that was missing from the 90th Academy Awards. The wattage was more of a dim bulb. From the host, the presenters and to a lesser extent, some of the nominees.

Though they were not nominated, couldn't the Academy have asked stars like Tom Cruise, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Harrison Ford, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Costner, Mark Wahlberg, etc. to be presenters. Its called star studded.

We were given, Jimmy Kimmel, Taraji P. Henson, Tiffany Haddish, Maya Rudolph, Lin Manuel Miranda, Dave Chappelle, and Eiza Gonzalez. Stars in their own right, but not movie stars (not yet anyway).

The Academy has gotten away from its audience. Yes. its for the actors, but its the audience that exalts them to star status. The audience picks them as their favorites. They'll go see their next performance to see if that status is warranted. They will pour over the tabloids, the gossip columns, TMZ, every little item of their newly embossed star.

As for the show itself, there were missteps throughout.The winners were treated as if in a bustling restaurant where the busboy is cleaning the table while the patrons were still eating.

The network had time restraints because of the premiere of Alec Baldwins new talk show. I remember when the show would go on way past midnight. Perhaps its time to give another network or even (gasp) a cable channel where length is of no importance.

Whoever put together the montages and the "In Memoriam" segments, should be fired. I only guessed three of the movies in the "Military on Film" segment because they neglected to put what movies were being shown at the bottom of the screen. They left out Clark Gable, James Stewart and others who put their careers on hold to fight in World War II. Lastly, how can you omit John Wayne who virtually wore every Armed Forces uniform on screen?

As for the "In Memoriam" segment, they showed a handful of stars and over 20 directors, cinematographers and others that worked behind the scenes. Again, people want to see STARS that have passed.

A major omission that has irked me the last few years is giving an honorary Oscar at a separate dinner. How many stars do you think went to that? How many knew that Donald Sutherland was this years recipient? Even though they made only two movies together, I would have liked to have seen Elliot Gould present it to him. Trapper John and Hawkeye Pierce together again. Also, how about some clips from his career to show why he was given the Honorary Oscar.

Charlie Chaplin received the longest standing ovation in Academy history (over 15 minutes) when he was given his honorary Oscar, which the audience may never see a moment like this again.

I wonder if Groucho Marx would have accepted his honorary Oscar if he was told it would be at a separate dinner and not invited to the big show. After all, he said and I paraphrase, "I wouldn't join a club that would have someone like me as a member."

To fix the Academy Awards is simple:

Give the audience what they want and turn up the wattage.

pop culture
Like

About the Creator

Tony Olivieri

Known as Brooklyn Possum

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.