Unsurprisingly, the collective internet has an opinion. Many Twitter users are replying with "I told you so" (forgetting that they were the principle reason that the rule change happened when The Dark Knight missed in Best Picture). Other proponents of the current system did not respond in kind; Sasha Stone, who never found an issue that she couldn't turn into a hyperbolic speech worthy of FOX News, claimed that the system would get even worse going back to five nominees, particularly in terms of diversity.
To this I have to put out a serious question about people's memories. Lest we forget, films that weren't white and male even in recent memory did still make it onto the Oscar shortlist. Everything from Ray to Crash to The Hours did show up, and lest we forget, the current system is hardly a grand representation of diverse perspectives (even when a female-themed film like Philomena or The Kids Are All Right make it, it's one of the "extra" nominees rather than one of the serious nominees). Hell, most people would have assumed that films like Juno and The Reader were "extra" nominees if they hadn't been nominated in the five-wide era.
Contracting the nominees would bring back an element of surprise into the Best Picture race, which has been sorely lacking in recent years in terms of who gets a nomination. Yes, there were those who were certain that, say, Gone Girl or Nightcrawler would get in, but by-and-large most films that compete for Best Picture make the cut, and we don't have the fun anymore of 2009 when truly random films like District 9 and A Serious Man were nominated. I think if we go back to the old system we'll have genuine clashes, and yes, we'd see worthy films snubbed but it would also be easier to bring the show back to the movies, which is something that the last few years have been lacking. Because while quite frankly I think it's damn foolishness when we get complaints about Academy members not seeing all of the eligible films (you're the Oscars, you should be able to see most of the movies and take your role seriously), but I sort of hear it when the populace, who loves to converse with movies this time of year, can't possibly see all of the nominated films. People like to have seen most of the nominees, but give up when it's a list of too many films, particularly when they're all out at once.
And that may be the most exciting thing about reverting to the old system, quite frankly. We have seen a huge change in Oscar campaigns in the past few years, with more and more streamlined campaigns and only a few films making major plays for the top prize. There's still lots of room for other films to sneak in, and I think that making the campaign a little bit more up-in-the-air might lead to some much needed changes. For starters, we saw this past year how badly Selma and its delayed release impacted the film-hopefully this will wake up studios to get their films in more theaters prior to the nominations' announcement, thus letting more people see and interact with the movies. It might also bring back more pressure on diversity in acting categories (remember in 2013 when every acting nominee came from a Best Picture nominee or Blue Jasmine?), which I would applaud-it's always best when we get out of the it's-a-Best-Picture-nominee mentality with other categories and more into what actually represents those categories.
So this is my way of saying I'm all on-board with bringing it back to five. I love surprises on Oscar nomination morning, and if people really want more nominees they should put their energy behind Best Makeup getting five instead of Best Picture getting eight! So says this Oscar-lover, at least.
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