美国国家公共电台 NPR Opinion: Critics Nix Pop Flicks Pick For Oscar Fix

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences got panned this week for changes they announced to their annual awards. Critics nix pop flicks¹ pick for Oscar fix. Oscar viewership has declined 39 percent since 2014. Lots of people now watch programs on streaming services or GameCasts on their iPhones rather than real-time television.

The academy wants more eyeballs, but they were roundly criticized by critics, actors and directors for creating a new Oscar category for outstanding achievement in popular film. Last movies to win best picture Oscars were "The Shape Of Water," "Moonlight," "Spotlight²" and "Birdman." Artful, successful films, but not boffo smashes, like any film from the Marvel³ comics universe.

As the Hollywood Reporter put it, the gulf⁴ between what the public buys tickets to see and what the academy nominates and awards has never been greater. Mark Harris, the critic, tweeted, it truly is something that in the year "Black Panther," a movie made just about entirely⁵ by and with black people, grosses $700 million, the academy's reaction is, we need to invent something separate but equal.

A change the academy hopes will slenderize the ceremonies to run just three hours is to present fewer awards during the live broadcast. They'll presumably still show the nominees⁶ for all the acting⁷ awards and winners' speeches. They are famous, glamorous⁸ faces who will wear Armani and Chanel, drip with bling, and thank producers, agents, their families and high school teachers for believing in them. I'm always moved by those speeches.

People who probably won't be shown live during the regular broadcast are the nominees and winners for best film editing, sound mixing, production design, sound editing, makeup⁹ and hairstyling. They're known in Hollywood as the below-the-line people, the technical crew who work on film after film year after year and drive from the San Fernando Valley while it's still dark to start work by dawn on cold film sets or in airless editing rooms. Designers don't compete to dress them for their big, perhaps only, night at the Oscars.

The folks below the line are the artisans and craftspeople that make a movie speak and sparkle. I've enjoyed seeing the folks below the line take their place on Oscar broadcasts alongside Spielberg, Chadwick Boseman and Meryl Streep. You'd think one night a year, Hollywood could find the time to acclaim¹⁰ them for the magic that would be impossible without them.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD")

JOHNNIE DAVIS: (Singing) Hooray for Hollywood, that screwy, ballyhooey Hollywood