Opinion: The categories of the Oscars need some reworking. I have a few ideas.
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My sister called me excitedly, asking, “Have you made your predictions yet?” She purged the closest Goodwill to try and find the most distinguished looking dress possible. I sadly slid the Crocs off my feet and replaced them with three-inch checkered heels. I looked over to my cat, whose red bowtie matched my dress. All of these things can only mean one thing: It was Oscars night.
It’s the night when Hollywood’s wealthiest and most notorious stars gather in Hollywood’s fanciest auditorium. They joke about one another, expelling wealth with every polite snort. My sister and I watch avidly in our hand-me-down dresses, eating our Oscars-themed snacks. Paul Mescal is dressed to the nines. My sister and I are hardly dressed to the sixes. But isn’t that what Oscars night is all about?
As part of our festivities, my sister prepares a game of Oscars trivia for those who join our gathering. Though I have not done in-depth research on the subject, I am typically the prevailing champion of the game. When asked how I do it, I have one answer: Choose the option that seems the most unbelievably ancient, so far as inclusivity goes. For example, through all the years of the Oscars, there have only been seven women nominated for best director and only three winners.
This seems very antiquated to me. But if you look at the way the different categories are set up, it is more easily understandable as to why the Oscar usually goes to the straight white man.
First of all, we have gender separated awards for best actor and best actress. Through this structuring we ignore the possibility for future performances that may be acted by non-binary individuals. Let’s say someone gives the performance of a lifetime: If their only options for nomination are male or female, their talents and achievements will not be recognized.
The other side of this, however, has issues of its own. Let’s say that, in order to advertise inclusivity, the Oscars decide to cut gender from all categories. All nominations are simply the superlative of the craft. This opens the door for expanding the trends that are already affluent in the Academy. The award for best director is not segregated to one gender, but still, the amount of women nominated is incredibly low.
More than this, only six Black filmmakers, all of whom were men, have been nominated for best director. None won the award. There are no categories that encourage diversity in nominations.
Despite this, it is important to point out that the 2023 Oscars were a major night for Asian representation. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” took home seven awards across the categories, and “RRR” became the first Indian feature film to win an Oscar after “Naatu Naatu” won best original song. These are great achievements for diverse representation in the Academy. But it has taken us quite a while to get here.
The Oscars need restructuring, but is there any way to change these categories and not neglect marginalized creators? I think I have a solution.
Let’s randomize the awards. Let’s add some chaos to the class. I want to see categories like best monologue, best needle drop, best scene that takes place outdoors, best political commentary, best screaming performance, best quiet performance, best blooper reel, best tree vistas and so on. But I don’t want to know what the categories are year to year. I want to watch the red carpet and guess, based on the celebrities, what random awards they will be giving out that night.
Maybe that won’t fix all of the problems, but the entertainment value would be priceless. Give me the Hollywood superlatives. And make them as creative, and as random, as possible. Hollywood’s biggest night of the year deserves some real suspense.
