The new Oscar’s Fan Favorite award is creating conflict between some fans. PHOTO CREDIT: The Hornet
For years, Twitter users have complained about the Academy as a voting body. The nominations and awards given at each ceremony are bound to cause some sort of outrage, whether fans are complaining about snubs, a lack of diversity or both. This year, these same Twitter users will have the chance to take on the role of the Academy and vote for a brand new category: Oscars Fan Favorite.
Last year’s ceremony drew in the Oscars’ lowest viewership numbers to date, and this new award is one of the multiple changes the Academy has made in an apparent attempt to bring numbers back up.
Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and filmmaker Kevin Smith were among the vocal outcry when the nominations for the March ceremony were announced earlier this month. The critically acclaimed, record-breaking box office film “Spider-Man: No Way Home” did not receive a nomination in one of the 10 slots available for Best Picture, which some took as proof that the Oscars are too elitist. Less than a week later, the Fan Favorite category was announced.
Fans can vote via Twitter using the award hashtag or at oscarsfanfavorite.com for their favorite films released in 2021. United States residents who vote can also enter the Oscars sweepstakes in which three winners will be flown out to Los Angeles to attend the March 27 ceremony.
University of Rhode Island students have mixed feelings about the new category.
Junior Fabian Vargas, who doesn’t usually watch the Oscars, thinks it’s a “pretty interesting” addition.
“It does sound more intriguing, but I don’t know if I would actually go and watch [the Oscars] still,” Alexia Guzman, a sophomore at URI, said.
Guzman added that if she were to vote for a film, she would vote for “Encanto,” Disney’s latest animated musical which garnered three Oscar nominations.
While there is no poll where voters can see the results and where films stand against each other, Deadline reported a few days after voting began that Amazon Prime’s “Cinderella” is the surprising frontrunner. Many had assumed the popularity of “No Way Home” and Marvel’s massive fanbase would guarantee a win, but Camila Cabello’s fan base can not be underestimated.
Senior Kellsie King thought it was “funny” that a film with an average of 1.6 stars on Letterboxd and a 60 percent on Rotten Tomatoes audience meter could be considered a fan favorite, but wasn’t surprised at stan twitter’s ability to get the most votes in. It does raise the question of whether or not the “true” fan favorite will win or if the winner will just be a reflection of which actor has the biggest, most devoted fan base.
“That’s the issue,” senior Isabelle Massé said. “That’s what’s wrong with [voting via Twitter]. I don’t even want to say you can’t trust, but with the way social media is set up, there are so many ways that it can be rigged.”
Rules state that individuals can only vote up to 20 times a day, but stans who have familiarized themselves with voting for awards like the American Music Awards or People’s Choice Awards know that there are bots and ways to get around such limits.
Massé, who watches the ceremony yearly, said the new category “doesn’t really make sense” to her.
“In my opinion, it feels a little bit like a cop-out,” she said. “I just don’t think they want to give these movies that are like, yes, they’re popular but they’re also critically acclaimed [the major awards]. It’s fine to put them in the other categories. You don’t have to create this new category.”
Massé also called out films that are often referred to as being “Oscar bait.” This year, like many in the past, biopics are heavily represented from Jessica Chastain’s “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” to Kristen Stewart’s “Spencer” and Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem’s “Being The Ricardos.” The star-studded Netflix film, “Don’t Look Up,” which got mixed reviews from critics and viewers alike at best, also nabbed a Best Picture nomination along with three others.
Twitter users also expressed their discontent with the direction of the Oscars with the recent announcement that eight of the traditional 24 categories will be awarded off the air. These include all the short film nominations, Film Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Original Score, Production Design and Sound. This is a move designed to shorten the lengthy ceremony that other shows like the Tony Awards have done for years.
Podcast host George Edelman reacted to the announcement with the sarcastic tweet, “Wow it’s almost like the Oscars aren’t really about honoring quality filmmaking and are just about celebrities and PR.”
This begs the question of whether or not the Oscars will ever be able to strike that balance. Can you honor quality filmmaking while also bringing in the viewers, like King, who watch for the glitz and glamor? Will the Oscars just end up alienating their faithful watchers by trying to appeal to those who may not tune in?
The answers remain to be seen at the 94th Academy Awards which will be held on March 27, hosted by Regina Hall, Wanda Sykes and Amy Schumer. The ceremony will be broadcast on ABC at 8 p.m. EST. For more information on this new award, vote for your own fan favorite and enter the sweepstakes, visit oscarsfanfavorite.com.