Come Sunday, the Oscars will have made its way to our television sets once again, as it does every year. There will be glamorous stars on the red carpet, surprises and upsets. But it seems like there is something missing from it this year. What could it be? Well, it could very well be missing a high amount of viewers to actually tune in and watch the awards show. What could have helped the Oscars out this year, you ask? Well, maybe a Best Picture nomination for 2008’s highest grossing film, “The Dark Knight,†would have been a good start.
“The Dark Knight,†sequel to 2005’s “Batman Begins,†has Christian Bale’s Batman protecting Gotham City once again; this time from the late Heath Ledger’s monstrous and chaotic turn as the Joker. The film opened in theaters like a bat out of movie hell, shattering opening day and weekend records, and eventually became the second-highest grossing movie of all time. The only other movie to make more money was 1997’s “Titanic,†which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1998.
So how could “The Dark Knight†make the incredible money run it did and get fantastic reviews from critics such as Roger Ebert, and not get so much as a nomination for the Best Picture category? It might be because the movie is based on a comic book character. But the lines of genre discrimination should have been blurred long ago, especially after fantasy genre film, “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,†took home the Best Picture award in 2004.
It is no secret that the Academy Awards viewer ratings have declined in recent years. According to Nielsen Media Research, the viewing of last year’s Oscar ceremony was 14 percent less than the previous least-watched ceremony of all time, which was in 2003 when “The Departed†won Best Picture. There could be many reasons as to why the top awards show is not very popular anymore. It could be the seemingly long run time, or the type of categories presented that people just don’t care about. Or more simply put, it could be that it is just not exciting enough.
Every so often, people need to see something extra to boost their excitement or to shake things up a bit. It is the reason the NBA hosts the All-Star game during mid-season every year. People do not want to get bored seeing the same thing over and over. They want to be wowed with something they don’t get to see everyday. Similarly, the Dark Knight nomination would have provided this.
There is no doubt many fans will tune in to see if Ledger’s Joker will earn him a Best Supporting Actor win. But what does that say about the movie that helped fuel his great performance? Before “The Dark Knight†came along, people would never have thought portraying any comic book character could have a chance at such a prestigious award. People will watch to see what type of chance Ledger has of winning. The same logic would apply if “The Dark Knight†were nominated for Best Picture. More people would tune in just to see what type of chance it would have in winning and, in doing so, peak the interest of more viewers in to the rest of the show.
Doing away with genre discrimination would in fact bring in more viewers every year during Oscar season. People want an awards show that every fan of every genre can feel apart of. If the Academy cannot adopt this means of diversity among future nominees, they may not have to worry about having a televised awards show with a fancy red carpet. The winners will simply just walk to their front doors and sign for their Oscars when the mailman comes.
Bryce Bradford is an agricultural communications senior.
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