The Oscars 2021 in Review

Source: Marca

Glitz, glamor, prestige, and annually declining viewership.

According to CNBC, the 2021 Academy Awards logged the lowest amount of viewers following a sharp decline in numbers each year, with only 9.85 million people tuning in to witness the ceremony from 23.6 million the previous year .

The Oscars is supposed to celebrate achievements in film, to celebrate the creative output of some of the industry’s finest, and up and coming talents, and yet most felt something was off during this year’s ceremony.

To start with, 2020 wasn't a year most would have fond memories of, perhaps most people still reeling from the effects Covid had on the world, simply don’t have time to put award ceremonies and movies on their radars, despite some of the films released still being of top notch calibre.

2020 had some unusual circumstances for most of the movie’s releases too, relegating a lot of movies to online distributions with no theatre runs, as an article from the World Economic Forum stated many films went to SVOD (Streaming on Demand).

Still, the year was still filled with some absolute bangers, from Chloe Zhao's Nomadland, to the sweet and sentimental Minari, all the way to the powerful final hurrah for Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

So interest in the films released in 2020 might not be the problem at all, being that almost anyone has access to streaming services these days, it was just poor timing.

Issues with the ceremony itself included the reshuffling of award categories and jokes about the overall length being too long.

Twitter user David Mack put it jokingly: “What is @JoeBiden's plan to make the Oscars go faster?“

Another big complaint most had of the ceremony was with the In Memoriam section, where several users deemed the segment "bizarre," and suggested parts of the ceremony could’ve been cut for time to make it more respectful.

Twitter user Linda Holmes Thinks You’re Doing Great’s comments on the 2021 Oscar’s In Memoriam section

Perhaps the most egregious of all was the abrupt way the ceremony ended, as Twitter user Alan Sarapa put it:

“They clearly expected Chadwick Boseman to win, so they could end on a touching moment. Instead they got the worst ending to the Oscars ever. At least Moonlight/La La Land was exciting and memorable. This was just poor planning.”

Hollywood seems to exist in their own bubble, it’s been like this for years, but in 2021 and Covid, and a bid to get people on board by switching things up, they just alienated its audience and showed where their true priorities lie in churning out something just to try to get it over with, and dragging some people along to watch.

Still, here’s to hoping they get it right the next round, and here’s to another year of great cinema.