Oscars 2021: 5 Categories That Should Be Added To The Oscars (5 That Can Be Ditched)
With the 2021 Oscars fast approaching, it's clear that this year's awards will look somewhat different than previous years. Along with extending the deadline for eligible movies, streaming movies will also be considered eligible due to the lack of theatrical releases in 2020. With these changes occurring, now seems like a good opportunity to explore some changes to the Oscar categories.
While the Oscars have awarded excellence in cinema for years, there are some areas they continue to overlook and need to start recognizing. Likewise, there are certain Oscar categories that feel unnecessary or, at least, in need of some change.
10 Add: Best Casting
While the performances by the actors in a movie often get most of the spotlight at the awards, perhaps it's time to recognize the people that choose those actors who are right for the roles. Casting directors are very important behind-the-scenes people who are essential to the movie working.
Recognizing stellar casting in a movie means awarding those who find the perfect two actors to pair together, building a dynamic ensemble cast, and even discovering new talent.
9 Ditch: Best Popular Film
In a rare move, in 2018, the Oscar's proposed a new category with Best Popular Film. Many saw this as a ploy by the Academy to include some of the big blockbusters in the awards and hope to draw the interest of a young audience.
The backlash against this idea was swift and forced the Academy to shelve the idea but promise to modify it. However, the Academy should simply admit that it was a bad idea to begin with and discard it. The fact that Black Panther managed to get nominated for Best Picture on its own merits proves such a category is nonsense.
8 Add: Best Title Sequence
Not every movie needs an elaborate title sequence, but when done well, they really stand out. These sequences are little forms of art on their own and are too easily dismissed as filler before the movie.
There are some truly great title sequences that expertly set the mood for the movie audiences are about to watch as well as being well-made sequences on their own. Think of David Fincher's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, or any James Bond movie. These title sequences stand out while helping to elevate the movie.
7 Ditch: Best International Feature Film
At last year's Oscars, history was made when Bong Joon-ho's Parasite became the first movie to win both Best International Feature Film and Best Picture. The Best International Feature Film category has been important in highlighting world cinema and it should certainly remain.
However, the rules of the category are what need to be addressed. The biggest problem is that each country chooses one movie to be considered for the award, which means there are countless incredible movies getting ignored. There is also a strange rule that if a movie has too much English, it will be disqualified, even if English is a prominent language in that country.
6 Add: Best First Feature
While movies like Get Out and American Beauty have proven directorial debuts can be hits with the Academy, many first-time filmmakers are working on much smaller scales. Having an award that specifically recognizes first features would really help to establish some new voices.
There might occasionally be some crossover between the Best Picture and Best First Feature, but it would probably be quite rare. This category would also help to highlight the smaller independent movies that often get overlooked.
5 Ditch: Separate Sound Categories
Of all the categories at the Oscars, the awards for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing are among the most confusing. The general public likely has no idea what either of these things means nor do they recognize it in movies.
The public's unfamiliarity with this doesn't necessarily mean it should be done away with, but they could probably combine these two into one category. The Best Sound could cover both aspects and the editing and sound mixing teams could be included together.
4 Add: Best Voice Performance
While acting is held in very high esteem among the Academy members, they are also a little narrow-minded in what they consider to be acting performances. Even though animated movies have been around since the early days of movies, voice performances are still not considered eligible.
While it would be hard to compare a live-action performance to a vocal performance, a separate category could help with that. This new category could also include motion-capture performances which are increasingly becoming more common and indistinguishable from live-action performances.
3 Ditch: Original Song
While the musical scores are a very important part of movies, the Best Original Song category is going a bit too far. Yes, an original song can be very impactful, but if it just plays in one scene or during the closing credits, is it really worth singling out? That's like including an award for Best Scene.
It's likely the Academy keeps this category because they want to include musical numbers and famous musicians in the ceremony, but they can still highlight music from the year in movies without needed an award for it.
2 Add: Best Stunts
In recent years, there has been a growing call for the Oscars to finally recognize the amazing work being done by stunt performers in movies. These individuals take big risks and a lot of pain in order to deliver some of the most memorable movie moments.
At this point, it is just bizarre that there is no existing category for stunts. A Best Stunt Coordinator category would be a good start and would also help to recognize action movies that are largely overlooked by the Oscars.
1 Ditch: Gendered Acting Categories
One conversation that has come up recently surrounding the Oscars has been whether gendered acting categories are necessary. There really is nothing that distinguishes a male performance from a female performance so why is there the need to separate them?
As a way of addressing this, the acting categories could simply be changed to Best Performance in a Lead Role and Best Performance in a Supporting Role. This would also allow the acting categories to be more inclusive for non-binary performers.
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