And the Oscar goes to….
February 26, 2017
The 89th Academy Awards will air in less than 24 hours. You may find yourself in an Oscar camp ranging from disinterested, to mildly interested, to very interested. I am in the camp that actually looks forward to the awards each year as I gather with a group of friends who provide our own Oscar dinner, replete with pizza and sandwiches, chips and dip, and fill out prediction ballots prior to the show. At the end of our evening, “the Oscar goes to” the one who made the most correct predictions, and the Oscar statue comes in the shape of bragging rights.
For those of you not as inclined towards the Academy Awards as my friends and I are, you may be comforted by the research that says you’re in good company. According to research done by the *Barna Group, the most-watched films, by American evangelicals, are not the ones nominated for Best Picture of the year. La La Land, the predicted winner this year, has been seen by less than 9% of adults. Even the other nominated films, such as Hidden Figures and Arrival, have been seen by 12% and 11% of adults respectively. However, the Academy judges do not succumb to People’s Choice pressure. No, the judges nominate films according to critical acclaim and not the popularity of ticket sales.
Cinema is still alive and well among Americans, but watching a movie at home gives some competition to the theater goers. It seems to be a generational thing. The Baby Boomers and Elders are more likely to stay at home to watch a movie, while the Gen-Xers and Millennials are more likely to go out for the butter drenched popcorn of the movie theater.
I am intentional about the movies I choose to view or not to view, given personal standards, but I am still an exception to my generation’s statistics. However, even though I’m somewhat in the know as to what’s out there, I’m not tipping my ballot hand in case someone at the Oscar party tomorrow reads this blog. I don’t want to hear, “and the Oscar goes to” my friends!
See you after the Oscars!