Oscars – rebranding a Dinosaur

When James Franco swaggered on stage as Monroe, pretty in pink he was not.  More Navratilova having a bad dress day.   Nope, it wasn’t going well. Young and hip was the intent, but the 83rd Academy Awards presentation sat uncomfortably with viewers of all ages. The hosts were young, people tweeted and even a f-bomb was dropped, but in the end, Hollywood’s big night was difficult to watch.   The heavy lifting to attract a younger demographic should not be left to two uneasy first-timers.  They needed to do something fundamental.

Even the high tech, CGI opening montage failed to stir.   Instead, Alec Baldwin asked ominously, “Who are those people?”   To which the veteran Morgan Freeman answered, “I have no idea.”

The figures are out. The telecast was one of the least watched shows of the past 10 years.  37.6 million, that’s about 4 million short of last years’s 41.7 million.   But the scrutiny needs to be on the all important demographic – the 18 to 49 age bracket.  It fell by 12%.

To rebrand a dinosaur, you need to overhaul the entire show, which sadly, is not going to happen anytime soon.   Talent shows have completely re-worked their formats, and really the Academy should too.  Some awards shows have already done it in Asia.   The producers eliminate the nominees one by one, American Idol style, electronically as the show progresses.   When it comes to announcing the winner in each category, only two smiling but nervous nominees stand (or sit) against each other.   It would have injected the suspense the Oscars badly needed, especially in such a predictable year.

So unless the organizers dare to do something drastic, the “big night” next year would be the same old ancient awards ritual. No matter how young the hosts (Hathaway is 28 and Franco is 32), it won’t change the fact that the Oscars is an old and entrenched institution.   For those attending, it will still be about wearing gowns that cost more than the production of short-films or even documentaries, and walking the seemingly endless red carpet flashing their million-watt smiles.   No matter how many platforms on which this geriatric show streams live to, it will remain an insider community of competing star wattage and three hours of self-congratulating.

An aside, there were rumblings that there were hardly any African-American nominees this year. This tweet from comedian Bill Maher, “If you are black and want to make it in Hollywood this year, you better be a swan.”