"Here’s what I know about the Oscars: They are more than 90 years old and they are still driving," says Mary McNamara. "Thirty million people may be a fraction of glory-days viewership, but the glory days are gone, for everyone, and in this time of fractured audiences and multiple platforms that is still a hell of a lot of viewers. And whether you agree with the choice of each winner, or the general preferences/limitations of the academy voters, or the notion of awards at all, an Oscar, for better and worse, is still the most recognizable and referenced honor in the world (and it doesn’t even come with a cash award). Everyone wants to win an Oscar because it is a two-syllable shorthand for success and prestige. Why else would Netflix, a company that is literally based on blowing up the financial and spiritual tenets of the film industry, be campaigning so hard to win best picture? Not because it’s irrelevant. The Oscars are all the things fans and critics think they are, and those conflicting opinions are proof of the award’s endurance. When no one cares enough to launch a hashtag campaign or publicly protest an omission or “undeserving” win, we can talk irrelevance. As for now, well, it’s been almost a century since roughly 250 filmmakers gathered in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel to celebrate the year’s achievement in film. Was it a ploy to draw attention to the still nascent film industry? To raise its status and cultural influence? To sell more tickets and increase the wattage of its stars? You bet it was. And, man, did it work."
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TOPICS: 92nd Academy Awards, ABC, IFC, Independent Spirit Awards, Ben Lyons, Billy Crystal, Maria Menounos, Regina King, Stephen A. Smith, Award Shows