THB #697: That Stubborn Academy Itch

You can take an Academy member to Streaming, but you shouldn’t insult them by telling them how to think.

Why would an organization that has become more and more marginalized add a rule that makes its process more restrictive rather than less restrictive?

It’s a bit of a rhetorical “when did you stop beating your wife?” question. Because I have been challenging myself to find a way of explaining how bad the new “to vote in any category, you must see all the nominees” rule is without just calling people dumb or short-sighted.

It seems that a lot of people heard about the new rule and said, “Well, that is obvious… of course you should see all the contenders in each category in order to vote.” But like so many ideas that have come from the endlessly itchy Academy organization in the last 15 years, this is a rule that will make Oscar smaller, not more expansive.

The first question I almost always have about change is, “Why?” What is the purpose and what constituency is this serving? In this…