As the 2025 Oscars season comes and goes, experts are speaking out to claim that the Oscars have “jumped the shark” in a big way. Indeed, people just don’t seem as interested in the Oscars as they used to be, according to these experts.
Which is strange, and a rather big deal if you think about it. Consider – the novel and the film are the great American art forms.
Have we lost our love for film? Or are the Oscars to blame?
‘The Oscars Jumped The Shark’
“So many Oscar voters have told me the Oscars jumped the shark. They feel this is the end of Oscars in some ways,” the Arroyo Grande podcast Raymond Arroyo told Fox News. “I think most people haven’t seen any of these movies to be excited about them.”
In making this point, Arroyo cited movies like Emilia Perez, Anora, and The Brutalist, which are some of the films that have scored the most nominations this year.
Anecdotal data is still data – and here at The Mix, these movies are totally unknown to us. Can they even be called “Oscar bait” if no one has seen them?
“Wicked’s really the only movie that’s been a box office success that’s nominated for best picture. All these other films, they’re small arthouse movies at best,” Arroyo continued.
Indeed, Wicked and Dune: Part Two are the only two Best Picture nominees to make the top ten in ticket sales last year. None of the eight other Best Picture nominees even came close.
“They are not taking into account popular tastes when making these choices,” Arroyo explained of the Oscar nominees. “And you have a group of people acting in isolation from their audience, which is a huge problem.”
“When you claim to speak as the cultural mouthpiece and center of the country, it’s a huge problem,” he added. “And I think many people in Hollywood are acknowledging it and realize maybe they’re out of touch, and maybe the Oscars aren’t what they used to be.”
That’s an interesting point – and it makes us wonder: Is the issue that they’re just “out-of-touch” with normal moviegoers? Or is it more that they’re trying to force particular perspectives on the audience?
Check out this year’s Best Picture nominees in the video below.
Related: Here’s Who Will Likely Win An Acting Oscar On Sunday
Oscar Voters Weigh In
Arroyo has spoken to many Oscar voters, some of whom have won Oscars themselves. Even many of them seem to have no interest in the Oscars anymore.
“One said, ‘I’m not even voting. The Oscars is over.’ And the other said, ‘It just doesn’t mean what it used to,'” Arroyo recounted. “They’re reflecting an industry that’s being, it’s been so shattered. You know, it’s sort of what happened to us in television. You went from three channels to a cable universe. Now it’s the wild west of the internet and every streaming show you’re competing with.”
“The world is changing, and it’s changed a lot for people in the film industry,” he concluded. “These streamers are taking over. But the collective audience doesn’t necessarily gather around it. So, we’re in a new day. And film is no longer the defining touchstone of the culture that it once was. And that’s what I got from these voters, an acknowledgment that the ground has shifted, and maybe it’s time for [the Oscars] to shift with it.”
Related: The Oscars Blows Millions of Dollars On Swag Bags for Nominees – You Won’t Believe What’s In It
Social Media Users Agree
Social media users appear to be in agreement.
“I feel really underwhelmed by this year’s nominations, wins at other award shows (such as the Golden Globes) and predicted wins at the Oscars,” one social media user commented.
“I’m just not all that excited about most of the films this year,” another added. “Bit of a meh year especially after last year. And the constant drama this season has been annoying, I don’t care about that.”
Ratings for the Oscars have been steadily declining for years. Only time will tell if Sunday’s ceremony will end in some kind of ratings boost for this awards show.
If the Oscars truly are “over,” perhaps it’s time for a new awards show to enter the mix. In the end, movies are the great American art form, and we all love them. If only we could get back to a time when movies that the average American actually enjoys got the awards love that they deserve!
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