The Anime Baby: The Academy and Us
The Academy is a joke, isn't it?
I ask that regretfully. On one hand, they've been finding new ways to piss us off every January for 90 years. Whether it's nominating obviously bad films in their Best Picture category, or snubbing well-earned performances in favour of less-deserving ones, it seems like the entire ceremony's an excuse to remind people how out-of-touch they are with the craft. On the other hand, that we fall for this obvious fallacy each time, that we spend, or waste, hours of our precious time trying to pick apart why X or Y is wrong, well…what does that say about us?
I like reminding people that The Oscars aren't worth our vitriol. That, like a reverse-Schadenfreude, we're buying into the perpetual cycle of our own misery by criticizing them. The Academy refuses to change, so our only resolve is seeing little victories like Harvey Weinstein being ousted as a result of his predatory behaviour. But that's not stopping us from getting mad, especially not at the ceremony's youngest category, Best Animated Feature, for continually snubbing anime films since Spirited Away in 2003.
Let's be perfectly clear: The Academy doesn't care if you disapprove of their lack of anime wins. They don't care because they have no reason to care. The awards are never geared at movie buffs, contrary to what you may think, and they know this. They know this as well as I know that the debate of having pineapple on pizza, or if the chicken came before the egg, is futile. The Oscars is yet another TV program that takes up a single, 3-hour block on ABC every year. And like every TV program, they only care about ratings.
I get it: it's frustrating. It's frustrating knowing your favourite anime movie didn't make it. Welcome to my world. I've unsuccessfully waited twice for an animated film from the LEGO franchise to be nominated for Best Animated Feature. The first was in 2015, when The LEGO Movie was snubbed. The second was this year, when The LEGO Batman Movie was also snubbed. At least the former had a worthwhile anime film, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, as a replacement, even if it didn't win. We don't have that pleasure this time, unfortunately, with A Silent Voice or In This Corner of the World not even being considered.
I'm fine with this. I'm fine with it because it's not about what I want, and it never has been. For one, I'm not of The Academy's voting base, so I have no say anyway. And two, it's a democratic system. Every member gets a vote. Given how much we're supposed to respect fair elections, why's this different? Obvious racism aside, it shouldn't be.
Perhaps I'm too idealistic. Perhaps I'm expecting too much of the internet, a body composed of angry hive-minds that overreact about details not worth the overreacting to. Perhaps my insisting that there's so little at stake here that, at best, a snub means one more obscure __ worth checking out is obnoxious. Perhaps I'm forgetting that other people are forgetting about biases, and that said biases are strong enough to cloud impartial voting in a subjective award ceremony. Perhaps.
But this doesn't mean I'm not disappointed. I'm disappointed that, despite its slow acceptance in recent years, anime's still considered too niche for mainstream audiences. I'm disappointed that people still view animation as "childish", a half-life sentiment from a simpler time that never truly was. I'm disappointed that, even with getting its critical dues, The Academy still sees anime as "those Chinese fucking things". And I'm disappointed that the members refuse to be swayed.
But I've come to peace with it. I've come to peace with it because it's unhealthy otherwise. I've come to peace with it because it leaves me happier in the long-run. I've come to peace with it because it means I can get through the actual ceremony without the stresses of the internet weighing me down. And I've come to peace with it because it allows me to enjoy the jokes, or failed jokes, of hosts like Billy Crystal and Jimmy Kimmel, to name a few, that much more.
It's not like I'm begrudging those who don't agree with me. I've long come to terms with the internet not being able to let go of their grievances with The Oscars, and how that comes into play each year. And I've long come to terms with the Otaku community bearing grudges over their prized medium not getting the love and respect it deserves. I simply wish that it weren't so openly hostile and vitriolic every year, as unrealistic as that might be.
Ultimately, I'm at a lose-lose crossroads. As much as I know that A Silent Voice and In This Corner of the World being beaten out by The Boss Baby's frustrating on many levels, I still recognize that they probably never had a shot anyway. This is Coco's award to win, and I'm glad it got its well-earned nomination. If all-else, this year also saw the nominations of The Breadwinner and Loving Vincent for Best Animated Feature, two films I'd most-likely never have heard of otherwise. If that's not some form of consolation, then I honestly don't know what is.
The Academy is a joke, isn't it? Yes, but the joke is on us.
I ask that regretfully. On one hand, they've been finding new ways to piss us off every January for 90 years. Whether it's nominating obviously bad films in their Best Picture category, or snubbing well-earned performances in favour of less-deserving ones, it seems like the entire ceremony's an excuse to remind people how out-of-touch they are with the craft. On the other hand, that we fall for this obvious fallacy each time, that we spend, or waste, hours of our precious time trying to pick apart why X or Y is wrong, well…what does that say about us?
I like reminding people that The Oscars aren't worth our vitriol. That, like a reverse-Schadenfreude, we're buying into the perpetual cycle of our own misery by criticizing them. The Academy refuses to change, so our only resolve is seeing little victories like Harvey Weinstein being ousted as a result of his predatory behaviour. But that's not stopping us from getting mad, especially not at the ceremony's youngest category, Best Animated Feature, for continually snubbing anime films since Spirited Away in 2003.
Let's be perfectly clear: The Academy doesn't care if you disapprove of their lack of anime wins. They don't care because they have no reason to care. The awards are never geared at movie buffs, contrary to what you may think, and they know this. They know this as well as I know that the debate of having pineapple on pizza, or if the chicken came before the egg, is futile. The Oscars is yet another TV program that takes up a single, 3-hour block on ABC every year. And like every TV program, they only care about ratings.
I get it: it's frustrating. It's frustrating knowing your favourite anime movie didn't make it. Welcome to my world. I've unsuccessfully waited twice for an animated film from the LEGO franchise to be nominated for Best Animated Feature. The first was in 2015, when The LEGO Movie was snubbed. The second was this year, when The LEGO Batman Movie was also snubbed. At least the former had a worthwhile anime film, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, as a replacement, even if it didn't win. We don't have that pleasure this time, unfortunately, with A Silent Voice or In This Corner of the World not even being considered.
I'm fine with this. I'm fine with it because it's not about what I want, and it never has been. For one, I'm not of The Academy's voting base, so I have no say anyway. And two, it's a democratic system. Every member gets a vote. Given how much we're supposed to respect fair elections, why's this different? Obvious racism aside, it shouldn't be.
Perhaps I'm too idealistic. Perhaps I'm expecting too much of the internet, a body composed of angry hive-minds that overreact about details not worth the overreacting to. Perhaps my insisting that there's so little at stake here that, at best, a snub means one more obscure __ worth checking out is obnoxious. Perhaps I'm forgetting that other people are forgetting about biases, and that said biases are strong enough to cloud impartial voting in a subjective award ceremony. Perhaps.
But this doesn't mean I'm not disappointed. I'm disappointed that, despite its slow acceptance in recent years, anime's still considered too niche for mainstream audiences. I'm disappointed that people still view animation as "childish", a half-life sentiment from a simpler time that never truly was. I'm disappointed that, even with getting its critical dues, The Academy still sees anime as "those Chinese fucking things". And I'm disappointed that the members refuse to be swayed.
But I've come to peace with it. I've come to peace with it because it's unhealthy otherwise. I've come to peace with it because it leaves me happier in the long-run. I've come to peace with it because it means I can get through the actual ceremony without the stresses of the internet weighing me down. And I've come to peace with it because it allows me to enjoy the jokes, or failed jokes, of hosts like Billy Crystal and Jimmy Kimmel, to name a few, that much more.
It's not like I'm begrudging those who don't agree with me. I've long come to terms with the internet not being able to let go of their grievances with The Oscars, and how that comes into play each year. And I've long come to terms with the Otaku community bearing grudges over their prized medium not getting the love and respect it deserves. I simply wish that it weren't so openly hostile and vitriolic every year, as unrealistic as that might be.
Ultimately, I'm at a lose-lose crossroads. As much as I know that A Silent Voice and In This Corner of the World being beaten out by The Boss Baby's frustrating on many levels, I still recognize that they probably never had a shot anyway. This is Coco's award to win, and I'm glad it got its well-earned nomination. If all-else, this year also saw the nominations of The Breadwinner and Loving Vincent for Best Animated Feature, two films I'd most-likely never have heard of otherwise. If that's not some form of consolation, then I honestly don't know what is.
The Academy is a joke, isn't it? Yes, but the joke is on us.
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