It wasn't so long ago that the Academy Awards were as big as the Super Bowl, with most of America tuning in, having Oscar parties, and waiting for memorable moments like Sally Field's "You really like me" speech or Jack Palance's one-armed pushups. Fast forward to 2021, and the Oscars are a mere shell of what they once were. "It's pretty much accepted on both the right and the left now that the Oscars are just irreparably broken," says David Ng, entertainment reporter for Breitbart. "The ratings have been on a steady decline for the past seven years."
Indeed, the Oscars have lost half of their audience in the last 20 years, and this year's show may set the bar even lower. Not only is the ceremony moved back by two months due to the pandemic, but most of this year's nominated films are obscure and lightly-viewed by the general public. Even the Oscar host, once a staple of the show that provided comic relief and memorable water cooler moments, is no more. The combination of weaker films and a heavy dose of left-wing politics has left 'Hollywood's biggest night" playing to a much narrower audience, not unlike what has recently happened in sports.
Ng tells KTRH that Hollywood has essentially given up on middle America or anyone remotely right of center, and the feeling is mutual. "When you have a one-party town that is so left-wing, they tend not to reach out to the other half of America, and the other half of America tends to notice," he says. "I think a lot of people have given up on Hollywood, but not for lack of trying. I think they what they want is entertainment...they want to forget their daily lives, they want to forget their worries, and what they're getting is a lecture instead."
That leads to the poll question this morning.