‘Spotlight’ reveals truth about the Oscars

Spotlight

Journalists Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), Walter Robinson (Michael Keaton), and Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo) collaborate together to prepare a newspaper article that will expose abuse in the Catholic Church. Despite the reality of the events in the film and the importance of its message, many moviegoers question if it was worthy of the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Brianna Payne, Staff writer

“I disagree with ‘Spotlight’ winning the Oscar,” Junior Matthew Sandoval said, “and I think ‘Mad Max’ should have won.”

Since the Oscars aired Feb. 28, movie-goers have turned their attention to all of the film nominees. While most movie nominations like “The Revenant” were intense dramas, others, such as “Mad Max: Fury Road,” were action-packed movies that appealed to larger audiences.

However, the award for Best Picture ultimately fell on “Spotlight,” a win that was unexpected for most of the ceremony’s millions of viewers.67VvDpxcMOtpt8WkzfETJ59vXw5

“Spotlight,” based on a true story, dives into the lives of writers from “The Boston Globe” and focuses on a group of investigative journalists called the “spotlight team.” The team, consisting of well-known actors such as Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo, explores the ongoing problem of molestation by Catholic priests.

As the film progresses, the spotlight team goes through extensive research on the abuse Catholic priests inflicted on young children in the church. Through interviews and phone calls, the team manages to pull together a story that has been ignored for far too long.

Although “Spotlight’s” subtle drama may appeal to an adult audience, the lack of action and excitement does not appeal to the younger generation. The movie feels much longer than it needs to be, sometimes verging on boring. Movie nominees such as these seem to only attract an older audience rather than represent all age groups.

Members of the Academy, who chose the nominees, are generally older white men over the age of 60. These select men do not show the amount of diversity there is in the world, both in audiences and in the film industry itself.

This controversy leaves the question: did “Spotlight” deserve to be the winner for Best Film? There are a variety of opinions as the debate for the Oscars continues through the years.

“Spotlight,” although a well-directed and nicely filmed movie, did not deserve to win the Oscar for “Best Picture” because it only appeals to a specific age group.

Most teens do not find themselves watching the Oscars when the time comes around and agree that the Academy nominees should relate to all types of people who watch movies. “I feel like even older people don’t know what the nominees are because they are so randomly picked,” junior Alyssa Loesch said.

People of different backgrounds, ethnicity, and ages were already protesting the Academy Award nomination process. Many agree that the Academy should make major changes in their decision processes and choose nominees that can relate to everyone.

“I think the Academy should make their decision process more diverse,” Junior Kenzie Artman said. By simply improving the diversity of their nomination committees, the Academy could bring in more viewers by ensuring that Oscars go to a wide variety of deserving actors and movies.

While “Spotlight” is not a terrible film, it’s Oscar win is a symptom of a much larger problem within the Academy and the film industry itself.