People Are Getting Salty Over The New ‘Popular’ Movie Oscar

On Wednesday, the 54-member Board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences approved some changes to the next Oscars telecast in response to ABC’s request to boost ratings. ABC is paying $75 million per year until 2028 for the broadcast rights, yet last years’ Oscars telecast was watched by nearly 40% fewer people than at its peak in 2014.

Among the announced changes, the one that has people jeering and jesting the most is the Academy’s new “Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film” category. Some of the reactions were somber, with Rob Lowe tweeting, “The film business passed away today with the announcement of the ‘popular’ film Oscar. It had been in poor health for a number of years. It is survived by sequels, tent-poles, and vertical integration.”

Most reactions were jokes, however. For example, Rob Lowe followed up his serious tweet with a self-deprecating reference to his maligned musical performance in the all-around terrible 1989 telecast.

Many people reacted to the announcement by pitching other new categories for your consideration:

https://twitter.com/GhostPanther/status/1027307046792716288
https://twitter.com/MattRogersTho/status/1027285589748604933

https://twitter.com/msicism/status/1027222111952228352

https://twitter.com/davidehrlich/status/1027221307396698117

Some suggested new names for the Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film instead:

Others took shots at the whole conceit of the three-hour broadcast:

And, of course, Black Panther is still a main topic of discussion regarding this new award. It’s been two years since #OscarsSoWhite started trending, and it doesn’t seem like the Academy’s PR decisions have improved much in that time.

https://twitter.com/loudmouthjulia/status/1027218026347855872
https://twitter.com/kateyrich/status/1027215271923249152

Plenty of people poked fun at the idea of a “popular movie” award being a thing at all, what that implies about the other categories, and various topics.

https://twitter.com/morninggloria/status/1027289848359485441

https://twitter.com/frankpallotta/status/1027220118462509056

https://twitter.com/MildlyAmused/status/1027218276223475712
https://twitter.com/misterpatches/status/1027214543636836354

(Hat tip to Variety, The Playlist, and Deadline Hollywood)