The Oscars is one of my favorite and most anticipated events of the year. The only thing that comes even close is sports but I think the Academy Awards still has the edge. Fall and winter are usually the prime months for cinephiles. All the buzzed about movies of the year get released during that four month stretch and I can never get enough. 

Unfortunately, COVID-19 makes this year a very different story. My Sunday movie and dinner routine wasn’t even a possibility and even if it was, there wasn’t much to see. That’s the reason why, even though I love them, the Oscars shouldn’t happen this year. 

Streaming became and even bigger player in the industry in 2020 but most of it revolved around TV. Don’t get me wrong… I immediately ate up Soul and Wonder Woman 84 when they dropped on Christmas Day. That, however, was a rare occurrence that didn’t happen all that much this year. The only really uninterrupted stretch of time for releases was January through March and awards contending films don’t usually get released during that time of year. I know 2020 had the occasional surprise on Netflix or Hulu but that’s not enough. 

The argument that could be made, is what did get released got seen by a wider audience than ever before. The Academy has often been criticized for being out of touch with what’s popular. That may be true and what gets nominated this year may have been seen by more people than usual. The only reason for it, however, is the sparse amount of cinema we got this year. People took whatever they could get. 

There would be too much of an asterisk attached to all the winners. Even with the extended eligibility window, theaters aren’t going to be open for months and studios are going to continue to save their best for when things get better. Mank and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom were good but already had plans to release on Netflix from the start. The other movies that got pushed out of theaters and onto VOD lacked in quality. It was clear that studios chose to sacrifice what they saw as mediocre. The result is not enough quality competition. 

It’s really a shame considering the progress the Academy has recently made promoting more and more diversity. I was just as curious as anyone to see how those changes manifested themselves in 2021. Despite that, holding off until 2022 is the smarter choice. It’s not ideal but it’s what’s best for the industry and everyone involved.