This time of year, it’s not uncommon for my fellow conservative commentators to discuss the growing disparity between the Oscars and the average moviegoer. They bring up the 2016 winner of Best Picture, “Moonlight,” citing the film’s low box office as a clear example of this division. The Academy chose to proclaim a film that “nobody saw” as the best of the year. Many see this as the latest in a Hollywood trend, referencing the poor financial performance of recent Best Picture winners as proof of the Academy growing further and further out of touch.
As often happens in the conservative assessment of the film industry, the “good old days” are invoked; a time when the most popular movies were often given the coveted Oscar statuette. Past winners like “Ben-Hur” and “The Godfather” were the most successful films of their respective years and 1939’s “Gone with the Wind” is the most successful film of all time (when one takes inflation into account). So when did the Academy begin to stand in opposition to the financial will of the masses?
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