The 93rd Academy Awards telecast is six weeks away and already the far-left Hollywood Reporter is writing a pre-excuse for why it’s going to be a ratings catastrophe.
Sadder still, the Hollywood Reporter’s pre-excuses are hilariously tone deaf, ignorant, and naked propaganda.
“The Oscars Faces Another Ratings Decline as Movies Become More Niche,” read the headline. Here’s a taste of the bullshit that follows:
Could movies be losing their cultural cachet? The latest evidence: The Golden Globe Awards saw ratings plummet 62 percent in total viewers to just 6.91 million. Sure, there were extenuating circumstances: The show lacked a strong lead-in; the virtual ceremony meant the glitz was dialed way down; and because of the pandemic-forced cinema closings, most of the films never had a chance to woo moviegoers in theaters.
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Recent Oscar winners like Moonlight, The Shape of Water and Parasite didn’t attract wide mainstream audiences, and that’s likely to be true for current contenders like Nomadland and Minari
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So the upcoming 93rd Oscars are facing a ratings decline. It’s not just because this pandemic-impacted awards season has meant most films have barely registered at the box office, opting for streaming and premium VOD. It’s also because serious movies, even when they individually attract passionate followings, now occupy a smaller niche. The pictures haven’t necessarily gotten small, but their potential impact has.
Let’s start by talking about two vital facts missing from this steaming pile of dishonest horseshit…
First off, the movie star is dead. One of the primary attraction of these awards shows, since their inception, was the opportunity to see actual movie starts — those rare and exotic birds who were hardly ever seen in their natural environment. Once Upon a Time there was Jack Nicholson, Jane Fonda, Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Denzel Washington, Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Steve Martin, John Candy, Bruce Willis, Stallone, Travolta, Depp, Redford, Poitier, Newman, Ford, Keaton, etc., etc., etc.
Those days are over. Not only are today’s movie stars not movie stars, but rather people who appear in movies, instead of being rare and exotic birds, they’re a bunch of asshole celebrities who, by way of social media and podcasts, never go away. Instead of classy movie stars shrouded in mystique, we are stuck with crass celebrities shrouded in pot smoke, ego, and a blistering contempt for their audience.
Number two is how mean-spirited, partisan, and egotistical these award ceremonies have become. We, the great unwashed, are constantly lectured, hectored, shamed… That includes our personal beliefs, our country, and our faith. Who wants to spend four hours watching amoral, marginally-talented people virtue-signal? According to the ratings, pretty much no one.
Now I want to take on this ludicrous argument that the Oscar telecast has been and will continue to be a ratings catastrophe because movies are becoming too niche.
FACT CHECK: Just last year — last freakin’ year — five (!) box office hits were nominated for and won a bunch of Oscars: Ford v Ferrari, Once Upon at Time in Hollywood, 1917, Little Women, and Joker. Those five hits were nominated for 41 total Oscars. Where’s the niche in that?
The year prior, Black Panther, BlacKKKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, and A Star Is Born were nominated for and won a bunch of Oscars, All four of those movies were hits, three of them were massive blockbusters.
I could go on and on and on… Although the far-left Hollywood Reporter wishes it were different, some of us have not forgotten that the Oscars opened up the Best Picture category up to ten potential nominees to specifically ensure the telecast did not fall into niche programming.
This fake news article closes with this… “The pictures haven’t necessarily gotten small, but their potential impact has.”
No, no, no, no, no… The only thing that has gotten smaller are the minds, humanity, and charisma-quotient of the industry’s most vocal and public spokespeople — the so-called stars. They have no class, no tolerance, very little talent, and now America is enjoying their God-given right to hate these assholes right back by refusing to watch their godawful award shows.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.