HWI 566

Hollywood What If Chapter 566

The reason behind the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's(AMPAS) reluctance to fully embrace superhero movies, even ones as amazing as The Dark Knight, was rooted in tradition, perception, prejudice, and biases.

For decades, the Oscars had been known to go crazy over dramas, biopics, historical epics, and other so-called “serious” genres that reflected human struggles, political themes, or artistic movements. They basically hate fiction that is far away from realistic.

To the many members of the Academy, superhero films were still viewed as commercial popcorn flicks. Mass-produced blockbusters aimed at generating box office revenue rather than serious, profound storytelling and emotionally stirring movies.

Despite The Dark Knight’s serious plot, psychological deepness, and stunning visuals, the genre it belonged to worked against it. The Academy Awards hates Superhero movies, simple as that. They couldn't accept that a Superhero movie deserved any major Award. Hence, The Dark Knight didn't get nominated for the Best Picture Award.

The members of the Academy were mostly older voters at the time.

They struggled to appreciate other new genres just because they couldn't relate to them. I bet if another musical movie was released, the old farts in The Academy would go crazy supporting it. They loved the musical genre, that was their era.

These people saw Batman as a comic book character, not a vessel for amazing storytelling or cinematic masterpieces.

They were also afraid that if they agreed to let a superhero movie win the Best Picture Award, this "disgusting" circus of a genre would flood the Academy Awards, and that would be a disaster.

So yeah, The Academy Awards didn't let The Dark Knight get nominated for the Best Picture Award. Instead, they gave it a Best Cinematography nomination; Slumdog Millionaire snatched that award, though.

If The Dark Knight won Best Cinematography or even Best Picture Aware, it might stain the so-called golden reputation of the Academy Awards... Even though almost everyone in Hollywood knew that The Academy Awards could be bought.

Furthermore, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was uncomfortable with merging "art" and "entertainment". They were adamant in keeping their false prestige.

Sure The Dark Knight was an Absolute Cinema, but it was still a superhero movie nonetheless. It was a blockbuster, but it would never become an art film... Based on their opinions.

"The Academy will probably stick to their beliefs."

Kazir understood that. Even though it was disappointing, he wasn’t surprised.

The Dark Knight had changed the game in terms of setting the peak of what a superhero movie could be.

In fact, no superhero movies could stand against The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Trilogy. It's a different breed.

The fact that many people believed that The Dark Knight Trilogy was one of the best trilogies in the history of Cinema speaks for itself.

Unfortunately, even if The Dark Knight was an Absolute Cinema, the Academy Awards didn't give a fuck.

'At least we won a major Award and a minor one,' Kazir thought to himself.

The Dark Knight won Best Supporting Actor and Best Sound Editing. So yeah, not bad.

The biggest winner of the 81st Academy Awards was Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle.

The film had entered the ceremony with 10 nominations and walked away with an impressive 8 Oscar wins. The movie dominated nearly every category it was included in.

Kazir watched with a calm expression as the crew of Slumdog Millionaire returned to the stage once again, this time to accept the Best Picture Award.

The film has already won Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Song.

Danny Boyle gave a humble and energetic speech. Obviously, he was happy and so was the cast and crew of Slumdog Millionaire.

By the way, the original distributor of Slumdog Millionaire was Warmer Brothers, but they sold the rights to Fox Searchlight before the release.

It was unknown if Warner Brothers regretted the decision or not. After all, Slumdog Millionaire earned $378 million worldwide despite the small budget which was only $15 million. Furthermore, the movie also won many awards.

Also, Fox Searchlight was the first distributor that Kazir worked with. He sold the rights of Napoleon Dynamite to Fox Searchlight.

The entire cast and crew of Slumdog Millionaire were beaming with smiles.

Kazir couldn't deny that the movie was amazing. (Author's Note: I watched the movie when I was in high school, so I can't remember much. But I think it deserves the win.)

He didn't mind that The Dark Knight lost against Slumdog Millionaire. Heck, he would also agree that Slumdog Millionaire deserved to win the Best Picture Award.

However, he also took pride in his creation(despite copying it), and he believed that The Dark Knight also had a shot to win the Best Picture Award. So Kazir was disappointed that The Dark Knight didn't get nominated for the Best Picture Award.

Scarlett gently placed her hand on Kazir’s. He smiled and gave her a nod.

“It’s fine,” he whispered.

“We made something unforgettable.”

Deep inside, Kazir knew the truth. The real award was the legacy The Dark Knight left behind.

Besides, Kazir already won the Best Original Screenplay and Best Director a few years ago. Both were considered major Award categories and Kazir Grey won them. So he was not that bitter regarding the few victories that The Dark Knight won.

As for Warner Brothers' regrets regarding Slumdog Millionaire and The Dark Knight's winning only two awards for the studio to promote, Kazir didn't care much. He did his job and he did it well.

He even attended today's Academy Awards even though he knew that their movie would never be appreciated by The Academy. Perhaps, they only felt pity towards Heath Ledger.