Something that has grown in viewership and prestige over the years may hold more power than some might have expected.
The Oscars, first shown in 1929, aired for the 85th time last night.
In a recent press release from the International Business Information Systems, even receiving a nomination for an Oscar can mean big things for a film.
As stated in the press release, “more than half of the winners’ box office sales occurred after the Best Picture nomination.”
IBISWorld also found that “on average, winners of Best Picture in the past five years earned $35.3 million in box-office revenue before the Oscar nominees were announced, $29.4 million once they were nominated and $17.9 million after winning the Oscar.”
Junior Ashley McAllister said that she thought that the Oscars are seen as so prestigious because they’ve been around for such a long time.
The Oscars are not a true representation of how good a movie may be, McAllister (junior-marketing) said.
She said that the award show is less about movies anymore.
“It’s become more about fashion,” she said.
McAllister said that although The Oscars may not accurately show the quality of a film, it definitely influences what people will go see.
“[An Oscar nomination is] the only reason I went to go see some of them,” she said.
In 2012, it was reported that 39.3 million viewers watched the award show.
Kali Chrush said she thought the Oscars were no longer about the films and how good they were.
“They’re biased,” Chrush (junior-psychology) said. “[It’s] one big publicity stunt,” she added.
McAllister said that because an Oscar nomination or award gives a film a lot of press, more people will go see it, despite how entertaining it actually is.
“People can say it’s about the art [but it’s not],” she said.
The IBISWorld press release stated that “studios continue taking creative risks and striving for the $28.5 million average in box-office sales that an Oscar nomination for Best Picture attracts.”
McAllister said that she thought that films are becoming more absurd and out-there to attract media and award attention.
“People are going to go see things they’ve heard about,” she said.
Chrush also said she thought that films were being made about more tragedies to gain attention and make money.
“[Film Companies] are making money off of devastations,” she said.
Senior Larry Klomps said he thinks that The Oscars reward those involved in the film and it is an honor for the directors and actors.
Although the award may be meaningful to anyone involved in the movie, the media gives it more attention and helps it gain money, Klomps (senior-biology) said.
“The media gives things more attention than they deserve in order to push or promote something,” he said. “[They] try to sway public opinion,” he added.
Frank DeFrancisco said the media and award shows only promote some films and that in turn helps them gain money.
The Oscars create an unrealistic representation of how good a film actually is because people will go see something based on an endorsement from an important award, DeFrancisco (junior-communication arts and sciences and information sciences and technology) said.
“The media plays such a big role in everything,” he said. “If they’re in our heads and showing us what’s good and what’s bad there’s [some] bias,” he added.
DeFrancisco said that those involved in choosing who wins an Oscar shouldn’t have so much influence over how well a film does.
“Why does one [group’s] opinion matter more?” he said.
