The Oscars Needs to Fix the Best Picture Category

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The Academy Awards, or Oscars, are celebrating their 98th year and are considered the most important awards in the film industry. Of all the awards given out, the Best Picture award is the most desired. Past winners include iconic films like Casablanca, Schindler’s List, and The Godfather, which continue to be culturally significant and beloved decades later.

As a lifelong movie lover, I’ve always been fascinated by the Oscars, but looking back at Best Picture winners, it’s striking how many haven’t really lasted. They feel like they were the right movie for the right moment, instead of true cinematic masterpieces. Honestly, a lot of those wins seem more about what the industry was feeling at the time, or even the political climate, rather than genuinely bold and brilliant filmmaking. It makes you wonder: is the Best Picture category fundamentally flawed, and if it is, how do we actually fix it?

The Academy Voting Is Bias


Warner Bros.

The Academy Awards winners are selected by a vote of members within the film industry, representing the collective opinions of the film community. Traditionally, voters for the Best Picture award have shown a preference for serious, high-profile dramas – especially those adapted from famous books or dealing with important social issues like racism, politics, or historical events. While comedies, horror films, action movies, and animated features may be popular or innovative, they rarely win. Surprisingly, it only recently became mandatory for Academy voters to actually watch all the nominated films before voting! This explains why fewer films from these less-favored genres have won the award, despite their cultural impact or technical achievements.

The Oscars often seem to favor predictable choices over truly groundbreaking films. We’ve repeatedly seen critically acclaimed, but less risky, movies win over more innovative ones – like when Spotlight beat Mad Max: Fury Road, The Hurt Locker triumphed over Avatar, and Terms of Endearment won instead of E.T. Many beloved genre films, such as The Matrix, Back to the Future, Psycho, The Shining, Spirited Away, and Toy Story, were completely overlooked. Even within the drama category, the Academy often chooses films that are tasteful and inoffensive, but ultimately forgettable. Think of Shakespeare in Love winning over Saving Private Ryan, The Greatest Show on Earth over High Noon, Crash over Brokeback Mountain, or Forrest Gump beating both Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption. These wins all feel like the ‘safe’ choice, rather than recognizing films that truly make a cultural impact.

Changes Have Been Made to the Best Picture Category


NEON

The Academy Awards haven’t ignored problems with its ‘Best Picture’ category. While the category has changed over the years, the core issues remain. In the very first awards in 1929, there were actually two top prizes: ‘Outstanding Picture’ and ‘Unique and Artistic Picture,’ both meant to celebrate different strengths in filmmaking. These were combined the next year into ‘Outstanding Picture,’ which eventually became today’s ‘Best Picture.’ This early shift highlights the Academy’s ongoing difficulty in defining what truly makes a film the ‘best,’ and has contributed to a nearly century-long debate about the category’s identity.

After popular and critically successful films like The Dark Knight and WALL-E weren’t nominated for Best Picture in 2009, the Academy increased the number of nominees from five to ten in 2010. Although the change was presented as a way to recognize more films, including big commercial hits, some believe it was a calculated move to boost public interest and TV ratings for the Oscars by including more well-known, mainstream movies.

Honestly, as a fan, I’m not sure the new rules have really helped. It feels like they’ve maybe even lessened the impact of winning, and the same kinds of movies still tend to get nominated and win. While I appreciate the Academy finally trying to address diversity both on and off screen with the 2020 changes – it was definitely needed! – it doesn’t feel like it’s fixing the core problem. I think the Best Picture category itself just doesn’t have a clear goal or a consistent way of judging the films.

What Is the Solution for Best Picture?


Warner Bros. Pictures/Apple Original Films

The most crucial first step to improving the Best Picture category is for the Academy to clearly define what ‘best’ actually means. Should it be based on artistic creativity, cultural significance, how popular a film is, or technical skill? Establishing a clear purpose, rather than relying on the voters’ current opinions, would be a significant improvement. A defined meaning of ‘best picture’ – something the Academy has never done – would make each win more understandable and prevent the use of vague reasoning when questionable or overly cautious choices are made. Simply put, the winning film should clearly meet the established criteria to justify its selection.

The Academy also needs to update how voting works. This is crucial if we want to see more truly deserving films win, instead of just ‘safe’ choices. Currently, they use a complex system where voters rank all the nominated films. If no film gets a majority of first-place votes, the film with the fewest votes is removed, and those votes are redistributed until a film gets over 50% of the vote. This often leads to bland, widely-liked films winning, rather than films that a smaller, but dedicated, group really loves. Switching back to a simple majority vote would likely reward films that generate strong enthusiasm, instead of those that just manage to avoid elimination as the most agreeable option.

Finally, the Academy needs a thorough review of its membership. As we’ve discussed, its voters tend to favor serious, prestigious dramas, likely because most members are older – the average age was 63, with only 14% under 50, according to recent data. While the Academy has reportedly made significant progress in diversifying its membership with more women and people of color, it’s crucial to continue this effort. Broadening the range of ages, backgrounds, and creative fields represented within the Academy will help overcome the perception that it’s out of touch and address long-standing concerns about bias in Oscar voting.

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2026-03-09 01:21