Recent award nominations and wins this year have people questioning if the films are truly deserving or if it is an unfunny joke against the art of filmmaking. The newly-released Oscar nominee list has a rigged feeling to it.
For starters, the French-directed Spanish-language musical crime drama “Emilia Pérez” received 13 Oscar nominations. It has become the most nominated foreign-language film and almost the most nominated film in history alongside the likes of Titanic. “The Brutalist” is nominated for 10 awards , with Adrien Brody receiving a nod for Best Actor. Both films used AI to enhance their performances.
Amidst the controversy regarding the usage of the Ukrainian software Respoke to improve Sofía Gascón and Adrien Brody’s voices, both title actors were still nominated. The Best Actor and Actress awards are there to recognize the complete performance of an actor, not the enhanced version of it unless they were Special Effects nominations instead.
“Emilia Pérez,” on its own, should not have been nominated for many awards, as it was terribly received by critics and the general public for being an offensive portrayal of Mexico and transgender people. Jacques Audiard, the French director of the film, had no business making a film about a culture that is not his own without doing research and not using Mexican actors at all.
As for snubs, Trent Reznor’s score for “Challengers,” the costume design of “The Showgirls,” as well as Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of Maria Callas in “Maria” are among the ones the general public are infuriated the most with. They did not receive the amount of nominations each deserved for doing real, well-researched performances that truly represent what an Oscar should award, basically nominating films that were either truly controversial or did well in the box office. The Oscars should nominate the craft and not the popularity of the films, but if they are going to snub truly deserving films, then the future of Hollywood does not look very promising.