Column: Reels with Ryan

 This year marks the 91st Academy Awards ceremony, and this Super Bowl for cinephiles has changed quite a bit since its inception in 1929. The first televised version occurred in 1953. The attendance has gone from 270 to well over 3,000, and the standards and barriers of nominated films and filmmakers have evolved dramatically. With all of this in mind, what exactly are the Oscars meant to be? 

The Oscars are known as a moment to celebrate the past year in film, but it seems as if there is consistently a disparity between the films that clean up on awards night and those that dominate the box office. Barring one or maybe two exceptions per year, I find that the films receiving the highest honor in filmmaking, a Best Picture Oscar, are ones the general public has not seen or didn’t know existed. 

Rumors of a Best Popular Film category being introduced have circled in recent years, with the category nearly debuting in this year’s ceremony. Some people saw this potential addition as a cheap attempt to add viewership and even a sign of the end times for Oscar esteem. 

According to an article by The New York Times, “Many on Twitter mocked the organization, suggesting that it might increase ratings by adding categories like ‘Hottest Onscreen Kiss.’” 

However, this year there is a popular exception in the lineup of nominees for Best Picture. This year’s exception to the rule is “Black Panther,” a comic book movie that has grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide since its February release. Rooted in its star-studded and almost entirely African American cast, “Black Panther” is a statement that audiences are hungry for stories written, directed, and starring minorities. The Academy recognized this culturally significant moment for representation and the thinly veiled political message rejecting isolationism in the story, and “Black Panther” became the first comic book movie to be nominated for Best Picture. 

Superhero flicks have a long history of being overlooked on Oscar night. As a Vox article describes it, “So many people see them, love them, and take their messages about heroism and morality seriously but the Academy typically hasn’t recognized them for being good movies.” 

“The Dark Knight,” indisputably one of the finest releases of 2008 and a film that should have preceded “Black Panther” as the first superhero Best Picture nominee, was omitted that year. Critics and audiences alike were shocked at the snub, with the outrage so strong that the public practically forced the Best Picture to expand from 5 to 10 possible nominees. 

We can all recognize that there is a difference between what’s popular and what one could call “cinematic art.” I love popcorn flicks with impractical action sequences and comedies with outlandish premises as much as the next moviegoer, but they rarely belong in awards conversations. However, there can be an overlap between the recognition by artists and audiences alike, and I think the Academy misses that too often. 

I would not be surprised if we see Best Popular Film or some incarnation of it within the coming years, but I’m not exactly in favor of it. While I have already said that the Academy does not reward deserving blockbusters enough, I’m worried that a pandering new category like this will undercut films that have the ability to make the jump to Best Picture. If the category had been implemented this year, I suspect that “Black Panther” would have been downgraded to the new category, and we’d be left where we stood one year ago.