Two of the major talking points of this year’s Oscars related to two films in particular: Get Out and Wonder Woman. Get Out, Jordan Peele’s tremendous “social thriller” was in many ways a surprise Oscar contender, much in the same way that Mad Max: Fury Road was at the 2016 awards. It was an unabashed horror film (a genre often snubbed by the Academy) released way back in February as opposed to the “awards season” of October to December, not to mention it lacked almost all of the traits of the typical “Oscar bait” film. Nevertheless, Academy voters embraced the film and lavished it with four nominations, all in major categories, and one win for Best Original Screenplay. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman was a superhero blockbuster with progressive social attitudes and an enthusiastic response from both critics and audiences. How many nominations did it receive? None.
Wonder Woman, while a very good film, was not deserving of a Best Picture nomination this year, in my opinion. However, a significant amount of people felt the film was snubbed from getting any major awards recognition, much in the same was The Dark Knight had been in 2008. Regardless of my opinions, both Wonder Woman and The Dark Knight were great examples of the superhero film, and their absence at the Oscars has been seen by some as a lack of respect for blockbuster cinema in general by the Academy. The fact that Oscar nominees such as Alejandro G. Iñárritu publicly referring to the current popularity of superhero cinema as “cultural genocide” certainly hasn’t helped matters. With this in mind, what would be the best course of action for the 91st Academy Awards in 2019? Well, the answer to this question is a critical and financial darling currently playing in cinemas worldwide, and its name is Black Panther.
Despite nominating off-kilter films like Get Out, Lady Bird and The Shape of Water for Best Picture this year, the television ratings for the 90th Academy Awards were the lowest in Oscar history. Many reasons contributed to this, but some have considered that the lack of more recognisable and populist cinema is one of them. As great as the films this year were, how many of your average Joes on the street will have seen Phantom Thread or Call Me By Your Name? I disagree completely with the notion that the most “popular” film of the year is indeed the best film, otherwise I would be writing a piece about how Beauty & The Beast and The Fate of the Furious were horribly snubbed for the Best Picture. But with that being said, the Academy’s reluctance to nominate more “popular” films does denote a certain elitism among their ranks.
This is where Black Panther comes in. Not only is it an incredibly popular film both critically and commercially, but it also stands as one of the most socially-progressive films in recent memory. Journalists worldwide will continue to erroneously call Black Panther the “first black superhero film”, but it is indeed the first superhero film with a primarily black cast, black director and writers, as well as numerous other behind-the-scenes crew of African-American descent. In an age where the Academy are keen to stress how diverse and socially relevant they are, what would be better than to nominate a film in which there is so much non-white talent to choose from? Ryan Coogler would easily make my Best Director shortlist were I compiling it, meanwhile the screenplay by Coogler and Joe Robert Cole could also be given a shout like Logan was this year. But on top of it all, the Academy could lay in bed at night not safe assured that the 2019 Oscars would be headlined by a film that answered all their critics. We have a popular blockbuster film for the general public, a distinctly non-white film to meet diversity quotas, and a superhero film to satisfy the geeks who have felt left out since 2008.
Some people might think it’s naïve to say Black Panther has serious Oscar potential. After all, the film is not only atypical from the usual “Oscar bait” films, but it’s not even being released in Oscar season. Those same people probably thought the same thing about Get Out, and look how that turned out…
News recently broke from Deadline that Disney are already contemplating an Oscars campaign for both Black Panther and Mary Poppins Returns, the latter being the more traditional awards contender of the two. If both films turn out brilliant then I would be happy to see Disney beating the drum of blockbuster cinema at next year’s Oscars. For Black Panther in particular, it would be fantastic to see it follow in the footsteps of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King as a blockbuster to win the Best Picture award, but it would be just as satisfying to see it nominated. Costume Design, Production Design, Musical Score, Original Song for Kendrick Lamar and SZA, Supporting Actress for Danai Gurira, Supporting Actor for Michael B. Jordan, Adapted Screenplay, Best Director for Ryan Coogler and ,of course, Best Picture.
And last but not least, hearing the words “Academy Award nominee, Kevin Feige” in the same sentence together would make me smile to no end.
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