First and foremost, we can all agree this past year was filled with its fair share of exceptional movies. However, this has not guaranteed a smooth journey for the 2019 Oscars.
In fact, over the last few months, the Academy found itself entangled in so much controversy, it has many viewers worried for the upcoming awards show. From the Kevin Hart host conundrum, to the commercial break madness, and the immediate scrapping of the new (but not improved) “Popular Film” category, there is a possibility the 91st Academy Awards will not be one for the books.
Without a doubt, the largest controversy surrounding the Oscars was the Kevin Hart situation a few months back. All plans were set to proceed for the comedian and his hosting gig, until a homophobic tweet he wrote a decade ago unearthed itself and went viral. Naturally, this left fans divided, and led to Kevin Hart’s permanent removal from the show.
Not long after this decision, the Academy stated there would be no host at all for the awards- a move that has not been done for 30 years.
There was also a public outcry when it was announced that four categories would be aired during commercial breaks. More specifically, these categories are: Cinematography, Editing, Live-action Short, and Makeup and Hairstyling. According to the Academy, the idea was to shave 30 minutes off the original program length of three and a half hours (a choice made after many viewers stated the show was too long).
Only question is, will it be a worthy trade-off?
But one of the most puzzling parts of this year’s controversial Oscars was the announcement of the new category “Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film”. Thinking it was just another way to hype up mainstream films and bounce back from 2018’s record low ratings, the public reacted negatively to the news. This further prompted the category to disappear without a second thought.
Alas, it seems the Oscars has many expectations to stack up to. Perhaps we are the true critics this year.
-Kristen Weiderman
IMC Hawks Blog 
I enjoyed reading your article. I always wondered in the back of my mind if the controversy was designed to get more viewers, but now that they are proceeding without a host I’m not so sure.
In my opinion the Oscars thrive off the main stream media and it makes them really big. Sometimes when companies get really big they forget that everyday people can raise it up or send it burning. The Kevin Hart controversy is just something that’s been happening on a lot of platforms. Why are people searching up old but already known information to make a controversy. Honestly in my opinion they could have back him up with his choice. they would still have plenty of viewers. Outstanding achievement to me sounds like an award you get in middle school, creators deserve better than that. “Power to the people”. Whether or not announcing categories during commercials will work is unknown. It’s a bold move and unique way to solve a problem, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
I have noticed a huge change in the way award shows are presented nowadays. I believe there has been lots of positivity in the diversity in awards and representation. On another subject, when choosing hosts of any award show, you must choose wisely. Having a live show, it should be full of appropriate content. It is 100% necessary especially for the ratings and reviews. Any backlash the host receives, does not reflect well on the show itself or the audience. Past mistakes should be left in the past, but leave it up to the internet to resurface every and anything.
Interesting article about the entertainment industry. I haven’t heard about the Kevin Hart incident; it seems that Hollywood is engrossed with discovering terrible actions of celebrities. But this also presents a different question: Should people, even the stars we watch on television and film, be presented as perfect? After all, it is human nature to make mistakes. Maybe the entertainment industry uses these controversies as inverse advertising. Just like a soap opera, drama attracts the attention of an audience; the more people talk, the easier it is for companies to gain an audience. It could be the 91st Oscars are trying to do just this.
I really don’t understand what the big dead is. If Kevin Hart made an offensive remark get somebody else to host the award show. Every day new allegations are surfaced about huge celebrates. It is disturbing how many A list people engaged in inappropriate behavior. They figure that because they have money they can do whatever they want and it is just not the case. Someone hosting an event should be a respectable individual.
After watching the Oscars last night I now understand all the critics. The show lacks some kind of excitement with commercial breaks and long speeches throughout the whole show. In the era of internet and uninterrupted movies on Netflix, this is for people too boring to watch, especially when the show goes on for 3,5 hour. I get that they want to award the Oscar in the commercial break, but that takes away the pride of the people who actually won that specific Oscar. Also, before any other mistake is made, they should probably do a background check next time they make someone the host of the Oscars. To make the Oscars enjoyable again, and without any controversy in the future, they need to think hard about how to change their prestigious show.
Hi Kristen!
This year there has been lots of controversy over the Oscar’s and the Kevin Hart situation that happened. I was shocked at how the entertainment industry reacted to Kevin Hart’s tweet, considering it was something that happened years ago. Kevin Hart has hosted the Oscar’s for multiple years and it took by surprise that he was not this year. I can understand why the Oscar’s did not want Kevin Hart to host, however I feel that they should have still let him host since people do enjoy watching him and the past is in the past.
Hey there, I watched the Oscars last night and I must say, the show felt different than usual. The set was blah, and surprisingly, the fact that there wasn’t a host didn’t even make that much difference. I hardly noticed the lack of a host, and it also made the show move much faster. It allowed for more interesting comments from presenters, but the show was very beige. There wasn’t much fluff, there wasn’t much surprise, it was a little boring. Do we as an audience need controversy in order to enjoy? Maybe…
Regarding the Kevin Hart controversy, I don’t personally think that Hart harbors any hateful views towards members of the LGBTQ community. It was simply a joke in a segment. I think today, we are quick to call out people for jokes that may offend others without fully thinking it through. A large part of this becoming so large now, I think is due to the actions and words of people like Donald Trump who casually make statements that have racial/religious/cultural undertones. This causes the line between statement and joke to blur and we start denouncing everyone. I think we need comedians, especially in times like today, to help alleviate the stress and depression we face in our daily lives. If this parsing of words and denunciation of comedians continues, I fear that we will no longer have that alleviating outlet, and our society will continue to get more bitter and frustrated.
I am responding to this post Oscars. However, I think that some of the points made here are very accurate. It feels a bit like The Oscars aren’t even about recognizing incredible talent anymore, it is just about making money and getting views off the lengthy show. It does feel like this year has been a bit all over the place but it seemed like the Oscars went on fairly well last night. Maybe having no host is in The Oscars future! But trying to shorten the show didn’t really work out as the 11:00 end time soon turned into about an 11:20-11:25 end time. Nice try Oscars.
It’s kind of sickening how celebrities and other people can be treated. We all have skeletons in our closet. People’s attitudes and opinions change over time, in reality, there are only a few irredeemable things in this world that you simply cannot recover room (another story for another day). It’s just sad that people search this stuff up long beforehand and just sit in the woods waiting for someone to enjoy what should be one of the most successful and happiest moments in their lives and then strike. I’m just glad society seems to smart enough to understand that what someone may have thought or said years ago isn’t a reflection of who they are now.
After viewing the Oscars, I believe your points are extremely valid and this issue can be viewed from to angles, neither of which spell good for the Academy. Both issues are stated in the title with the first being the Oscars. The Oscars have become less about the awards and more about the show. Perhaps the Oscars aren’t aware of what the audience wants which could be the main reason for the negative reception. The other angle is the controversy. While Kevin Hart’s homophobic tweets have removed him from the show, previous host, Jimmy Kimmel has been seemingly forgiven for his problematic comedy in the past that included blackface. In the midst of the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, it isn’t ideal for a potential host’s controversy cause condemnation and another’s is forgiven.
I personally do not take interest in any award shows, but if I do end up watching the most entertaining aspect of it to me is the host. The witty jokes and the ability to keep viewers engaged are the main reason the Oscars hype this year has dropped dramatically compared to years prior.
I enjoyed reading this article. I think the controversy over Kevin Harts tweet is blown out of proportion. Yeah the tweet was bad but it happened so long ago. Also I wonder if all to confusion and controversy made people want to watch the Oscars even more.
I think that in avoiding obtaining a new host, the Oscars missed their chance to make a point. Perhaps if instead of having no host, they chose a host who heavily advocates for the LGBTQIA movement it would’ve given the awards show a bigger meaning. Though this wouldn’t have alleviated all of the controversies, I believe that it could have a been a step in the right direction. This award show is the biggest in Hollywood and should have a host that reflects the immense privilege it is. Instead of finding the funniest host, the Oscars should find the most worthy host, who can bring more to the night than witty commentary.
This was a great summary of what the mainstream public was worried about with this year’s Oscars. However, in many ways, the Oscar’s exceeded most peoples’ expectations. Several people of color made history with their wins, such as Ruth Carter being the first black woman to win for costume design and renowned director and producer, Spike Lee, winning the first Oscar of his career. I, along with the majority of people who watched the award’s show, was upset that Green Book won for best picture over all the other nominees. All in all, this year’s Oscars demonstrated to us that while we’ve made significant progress with diversity and inclusion in entertainment, there’s still a lot of progress to be made.
Hi Kristen!
As someone who does not usually watch the Oscars, I found your post to be extremely interesting since the only thing I’ve really heard about from it was the Kevin Hart issue. I am an open-minded person and I try to step back and see things from different points of view, so I hate it for Kevin Hart that so much drama blew up in his face. It’s absolutely not fair for people to have pulled something from the past and tried to make it a point of the present. People change and their opinions change, especially after years. I believe the controversy for Kevin Hart was just a messed up way of promoting the Oscars and making people pay attention to it because, as we know, people usually feed off of drama.
I actually didn’t hear about the Kevin Hart controversy, I am interested to hear what he said. If it was a long time ago and just one comment I don’t see what the big deal is. People can change over time as they wisen up so I’m sure it was all because of media hype that he lost his hosting opportunity.