MovieChat Forums > Movie Awards > Criteria for winning Best Picture

Criteria for winning Best Picture

posted 7 years ago by [deleted]
4 replies | jump to latest

If these boxes are checked, your movie is Oscar Bait: 1) Was it released around Thanksgiving or Christmas?
2) Is it manipulative?
3) Is it based on a true story?
4) Is the subject matter heavy?
5) Is the main character any or all of the following:
a race other than Caucasian
A gender other than male
Gay
Trans
Bi
Orientation that isn't Straight
Does the character have personal demons like alcoholism or a serious medical condition
Will you be called racist/homophobic/transphobic/mysogonistic, etc. if you hate the movie?

Congratulations! Your movie will most likely win Best Picture. Enjoy your award you "earned" by guilt tripping and calling names

[–] CountJohn (579) 7 years ago

A look at recent Best Picture winners-

2010- The King's Speech (a movie about heterosexual white people)
2011- The Artist (a movie about heterosexual white people)
2012- Argo (a movie about heterosexual white people)
2013- 12 Years a Slave (a movie about heterosexual black people)
2014- Birdman (a movie about mostly heterosexual white people, one gay supporting character)
2015- Spotlight (a movie about heterosexual white people)
2016- (projected winner) La La Land (a movie about heterosexual white people)

Not really sure where you're coming from. I don't have a problem with any of this, I'm not one of those people who complains about the Oscars awarding "white" movies, they should just vote for what they think is best regardless of race. Nonetheless the "The Oscars only award movies because they have black/gay people in them" argument has no merit if you actually look at the history.

[–] MovieManCin2 (26342) 7 years ago

2016 - Moonlight - (a movie about homosexual black people) Not that I care.

[–] CountJohn (579) 7 years ago

I personally wanted La La Land to win, but that really is a variation based on past history. People shouldn't act like Moonlight only won due to the ethnic breakdown of the cast. It's arguably the first movie to win that had homosexuality as a major film (maybe Midnight Cowboy counts too, but that was nearly 40 years ago)

[–] MovieManCin2 (26342) 7 years ago

My choice was Manchester By The Sea, but Moonlight was excellent also. And I don't think it won because of the ethnic breakdown of the cast. I believe it won because the most people thought it was the best.