As the cool, crisp autumn air starts to become more and more prevalent, something quite spooky is preparing to come out of hiding. Many cultures have different rituals for this sort of season and they all can be connected to an overarching theme of dread and despair. As that scary time of year inches towards you at a break-neck pace, you must remember to keep calm. Not every person is capable of handling the horror that is: Oscar-Bait.
Yes, Oscar season is almost upon us. Filmmakers everywhere are scrambling to get the attention of all of the Academy voters with their passion projects and skills as artists. But every Oscar season comes at a price that may cost you more than you know. With Oscar season comes the thing that film fans cannot stand. That thing is Oscar-bait. Oscar-bait refers to a term used in the film/movie community for movies that seem to have been produced and made for the sole purpose of earning nominations (and possibly wins) for Academy Awards. They are usually released just in advance of film fans’ beloved Oscar season. This means that Oscar-bait can be released anywhere from September into late in the calendar year. It is more common for Oscar-bait films to come out as late as possible to meet the minimum eligibility requirements for the awards. Not only that, but releasing a film right before Oscar season allows the film to potentially be fresh in the minds of fans and Oscar voters.
One must remember that the film industry is still an industry. Studios designate some films to hopefully be blockbusters while others are simply made to win Oscars. The reputation or acclaim a studio may receive from a win or nomination for an Academy Award is often minor to the amplified box office earnings such an Oscar-bait film may garner from simple word of mouth. Some studios only make these films to make a minuscule profit depending on how desperate they are later in the year.
It is fairly easy to spot these sort of movies because films seen as Oscar-bait often have distinct and specific characteristics. Extravagantly produced epic length period dramas are probably the most common. This is where you get your Holocaust or slavery films meant to provoke some sort of emotional guilt for the past. This is not to say that the messages these films are trying to convey are bad or wrong, it’s just that you see them every year. Half the time these period dramas are frequently seen a studio’s way of showing off their skills in the technical arts. This refers to filmmaking techniques such as makeup and hairstyling, cinematography, production design or costume design.On the other hand, if an Oscar-bait film is set in the present, the plot may center on a character with a physical or mental disability. Think of 1994’s “Forrest Gump”, a film I adore but probably should not have won the Best Picture Oscar.
As a fan of film I must make it clear that I do not want to discourage anyone from seeing any film. One can find much greatness in almost every movie they see and that is the beauty of it. Just be mindful that Hollywood does not make movies for the sake of art; they make them for the sake of business. Try to see if you can detect such films in the upcoming future.
