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filmmakers seeking to break in will have to think
about. The rise of streaming services has already
changed what kinds of stories get told and who
gets to tell them and stands to alter the landscape
further: according to a recent Los Angeles Times
article, Netflix released 19 original movies from
first-time directors in 2019; 11 more are already
scheduled for 2020. About half the directors
making Netflix debuts last year were women, and
several were filmmakers of color.
But if directors like Scorsese and Baumbach—
that is, male, white and established—have
everything to gain and little to lose from releasing
a movie on Netflix, a filmmaker seeking to build
a name will find it harder to stand out from the
pack. Having more movies out there means more
movies to slip through the cracks, especially if
they don’t come with a big-ticket director’s name
attached. Netflix’s Dolemite Is My Name, made
by experienced director Craig Brewer, is a terrific
picture about blaxploitation impresario and
entrepreneur Rudy Ray Moore, starring a dazzling
Eddie Murphy. But the film received no Oscar
nominations. With streaming, the public may have
greater access to good movies that perhaps couldn’t
otherwise have been made —but that doesn’t
necessarily mean those movies will get the awards
attention they deserve, which in turn grants those
film makers more freedom to tell worthy stories.
People who love movies have so much invested
in the “Oscars suck!” argument that we see our
foot stomping as being somehow productive. But
“fixing” the Oscars—to the extent that it’s even
possible—won’t solve society’s bigger problems.
Many filmgoers are torn between claiming that this
elite institution doesn’t matter and agitating for it
to change. We can’t have it both ways.
The healthier approach might be to follow the
lead of Bong Joon-ho, director of Parasite, which
has been nominated for six Academy Awards,
including Best Picture—it’s the first Korean film to
have earned that honor. In October, as Bong was
bringing his film to various festivals (it had already
won the top prize, the Palme d’Or, at Cannes),
he was also in the midst of the obligatory Oscars
campaign, a routine that was new to him. When a
reporter from Vulture asked what he made of the
fact that no Korean film had ever been nominated
for a Best Picture Oscar, despite the Korean film
industry’s size and worldwide influence, he
responded with a tongue-in-cheek but potent
answer. “It’s a little strange, but it’s not a big deal,”
he said. “The Oscars are not an international film
festival. They’re very local.” Hollywood is a big-
business tiny town, and its awards body is never
going to be the answer to the public’s prayers. It’s
our job, by buying tickets and being thoughtful
consumers, to show it what to think—not the
other way around. □10
NOMINATIONS
Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman,
his 3½-hour epic Mob movie for Netflix,
received 10 nominations^10
NOMINATIONS
Both Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio were
nominated for their performances in Quentin
Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood10
NOMINATIONS
A bracing war drama shot in the style
of one continuous take by director
Sam Mendes, 1917 was nominated
in 10 categoriesThe Irishman1917
Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood