Awards Season is Becoming Irrelevant

Despite its best efforts, the Academy is still struggling to find common ground with the general public.

As we enter the new year, we’re also entering awards season, the pinnacle of which is “Hollywood’s biggest night,” the Academy Awards. Recently though, Hollywood’s biggest night is becoming less and less relevant. It’s no news to anyone that the Academy Awards are consistently hemorrhaging viewers. Last year’s Oscars posted the worst ratings in the history of the ceremony. More and more, people are tuning out of the Oscars. The Academy has made some smart attempts to reinvigorate public interest by increasing the diversity of its members, but they have also made some ill-advised and quickly reversed ones (looking at you, Best Popular Film Award). But what is causing awards season to lose so much steam? That’s a difficult question to answer with finality, but let’s break down some of the main contributors.

Predictability

Awards Season has become all too predictable. No, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway’s infamous Moonlight gaff doesn’t count as “unpredictable,” at least not in any way that counts. The issue is, everyone knows who is going to be nominated before the nominations come out. Did Meryl Streep star in a movie in which she has at least one…