If you follow film like I do, you've no doubt heard by now that the televised Academy Awards (a.k.a. The Oscars) will be shortened this year and many awards are set to be given off screen. Some of the categories that won't be televised include Best Editing, Best Hair & Makeup, and Best Cinematography. As you can already guess many people, myself included, weren't too happy about this news.

It's bad enough that many technical awards, such as Best Special Effects, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing are not given the same grandeur in the ceremony as Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Picture. Now, many technical awards won't even have the honor of being televised. Many people's years of hard work and devotion will go unseen by the movie-loving public.

The people who are in these categories won't get to see their heartfelt speeches on screen. They might go ignored by potential future employers and might miss potential job opportunities. Their families won't get the chance to see them receive this honor from halfway across the country, or in some cases halfway across the globe. I know to some this might feel like an over exaggeration, but I really do feel like they failed these hardworking and important people.

Now that I think about it, it feels extra sacrilegious to do this to categories such as Best Cinematography and Best Editing. Cinematography involves framing and shooting the camera, a.k.a. filming. How can you have an awards show that's meant to honor achievements in film when you don't honor the actual filming process? The same goes for editing.

Many people who work on the technical side of film often go unrecognized by the movie-going public (and I include myself in that, unfortunately). This would have been the one night where their hard work is recognized, not just by their industry, but by the movie-going public around the world. It would have been the one night were people would read their names and remember them for a brief moment, as opposed to one small name in a sea of scrolling end credits that no one takes the time to read because the movie is over and they're leaving the theater.

However, one of the things that upset me most about this is that it could rob future cinematographers, editors, and makeup artists the chance to get interested in the field for the first time. A child could be watching The Oscars for the first time and see examples of cinematography, editing, and makeup being presented. That child could love what they see and want to pursue those fields as a career. Not showing this could rob the industry of the next great cinematographers and editors.

I know this feels more like a rant than a refined article, but I just really had to get this off my chest. The Oscars have been struggling to remain relevant for the last few years by nominating more widely viewed films and by trying to keep up with changing times by nominating more POC, women, and LGBT+ people (which are all net positives). This, however, is a weak attempt to increase viewership with a shorter show. This act is a disgrace to the hardworking technicians in Hollywood and should be criticized to the fullest degree. I just hope they eventually learn their lesson and give these categories the respect they deserve.