Ladies and gentlemen, the mystery has finally been solved: We now know why the Oscars have occasionally handed out statues to garbage films that made half the internet go, “Wait… really?” It’s because, as crazy and unfair as this sounds, some Academy voters weren’t even watching the movies they were voting on. And, apparently, nobody really cared.
Until now. In a turn of events that feels, at least to me, less like news and more like a confession, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that for next year’s 98th annual Oscars, voters will now be required to watch all the nominated films in a category before they’re allowed to vote in the final round.
Let’s pause and let that sink in.
In light of the new rules and deadlines for the 98th Oscars that the Academy has just made official, it seems like basic logic to require that voters watch all the nominated films in a category before casting their ballots. Instead of just, you know, voters going with their gut. Accordingly, cue the collective head-scratching and incredulous tweets:
- “Insane this wasn’t already a rule.”
- “Wow, I was under the impression they watched every film!”
- “Do they send people round to voters’ homes to check their watch lists?”
Those reactions pretty much say it all. This isn’t just a mild procedural tweak — it’s a long-overdue reality check that exposes just how broken parts of the process have been. Imagine being one of the filmmakers who poured their soul into a nominated movie, only to realize that some voters never even bothered to click “play.” It’s not just insulting — it undermines the whole point of the awards.
What makes this especially maddening is how often we’ve all side-eyed certain wins or nominations over the years, wondering how something so obviously mid could have made it through the gauntlet of “expert” voters. Turns out, it’s not that voters had questionable taste — it’s that some of them might not have had any taste at all, because they hadn’t even watched the darn thing.
To be fair, the Academy is made up of thousands of industry professionals, many of whom are extremely busy, juggling projects and premieres and press tours. But the point of having a vote in the Oscars is that it’s not just a vanity role — it comes with a responsibility to take the time, engage with the art, and vote accordingly. If that’s too much to ask, maybe you shouldn’t have a ballot in the first place.
Now, enforcement is another story entirely.
Unless I missed it in the announcement details (I don’t think I did), the Academy hasn’t said how it plans to verify that voters are watching what they’re supposed to. Is this going to be an honor system? A tracking feature on the Academy’s streaming platform? A pop quiz from Jimmy Kimmel? Who knows. What we do know is that the Academy has at least acknowledged the importance of doing this, and that’s a start.
So yes — “Insane this wasn’t already a rule” might be the most accurate take anyone’s posted so far. But it also shines a light on how much the Oscars are still playing catch-up in the age of Peak Everything. Honestly, if the voters who participate in the world’s most prestigious film awards can’t even be bothered to press play, I don’t want to hear another word from this industry ever again about audiences not showing up to movies.
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