A new requirement for Oscar voters: They must actually watch the films

It has not always been necessary to read the book in order to write a book report, as many a devious middle schooler familiar with CliffsNotes or artificial intelligence can attest. And it turns out that Oscar voters have not always had to watch all the films they passed judgment on.

But now the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is trying to change that.

The academy announced a new rule this week that most filmgoers could be forgiven for assuming was already in place: From now on, members of the academy will be required to actually watch all the nominated films in each category they vote in.

Cue the collective side eye.

“Like ‘Casablanca,’ I am shocked, shocked to discover that there are academy members who don’t watch all the movies,” said Bruce Vilanch, a comedian who has written for 25 Oscar shows, who added that the new rule was “kind of hysterical.”

Skyler Higley, a comedy writer who was on Conan O’Brien’s writing team when he hosted the Oscars last month, called the new requirement “un-American.”

“What we do in this country is we sort of vote based on vibes and preferences and biases,” he said. “So to suddenly require that these guys know what they’re talking about when they’re voting, it’s just not what we do in this nation.”

Doug Benson, a stand-up comedian and host of the podcast “Doug Loves Movies,” said the rule was “crazy” because most voters were too busy making movies to watch them. “This sucks for academy members,” he said. “But the upside for moviegoers? Maybe award-bait movies will start clocking in at a more reasonable 88 minutes. If they implemented the rule this year, ‘The Brutalist’ would have won squat.”

Laurie Kilmartin, a comedian who wrote for the most recent Oscars, noted that she had watched each movie just to be able to write jokes about them. “I can’t believe they couldn’t be troubled to watch every movie to vote,” she said.

The change will require commitment when it comes to voting for best picture, since the category now includes 10 nominees, up from five in the past.

On social media, the move has been met with a mixture of relief and disbelief. “It took them nearly a century to make this law?” Peter Howell, a film critic for the Toronto Star, remarked. In discussion threads on Reddit, some users noted how unfair it was that academy members could have voted for — or overlooked — films they had not seen. Some wondered which movies might have been robbed in the past.

And in some academic circles, the subject revived critiques that the system has long been flawed. Racquel Gates, an associate professor of film and media studies at Columbia University, said she was not optimistic about the changes.

“It’s a very necessary acknowledgment of the fact that the awards have not been based on the merits of the films or the performances,” she said, adding that too many awards had been won in the past based on the strength of the Oscar campaigns waged by studios, the popularity of films, or the familiarity voters have had with filmmakers.

How will the new system work?

Past writers for the telecast had a few ideas.

Vilanch mused that it would be entertaining to watch academy officials try to round up and penalize people for not being honest about their Oscar ballots. “The honor system has always worked very well in Hollywood,” he observed dryly.

Kilmartin suggested that voters should be asked to write a short summary of each film before being allowed to vote.

The academy plans to keep track of what members have seen in its digital screening room, and to require members to fill out a form noting films seen elsewhere, including in theaters or at festivals. If any film in a given category has not been viewed, the member will not be able to vote in that category.

The new rule comes as the academy has grown in recent years. It now has roughly 10,000 voting members, up from about 6,700 in 2017.

It is not the only awards show trying to make sure that voters actually see the works they are weighing in on.

Several years ago, the Tonys implemented rules requiring voters to see every nominated Broadway production and mark their attendance in an online portal.