Monday, February 15, 2010

Horror Movies and the Oscars

The last time a horror movie a horror movie won an Oscar was in 1992 when Silence of the Lambs won. My question is: Why don't horror movies get the recognition that other genres get?
That question is pretty simple. While the general public enjoy horror movies, the voting groups do not. If a horror movie was to be nominated for an Oscar, people would stop taking them seriously. The movies that get nominated are movies that are made to get nominations. While some movies slip through the cracks (District 9) most of the other movies are made with the intent purpose of winning awards. You can not tell me that The Blind Side was made to make money. I know that they were hoping to make money, but they knew that the movie would get some acting noms.
While horror movie continue to rake in the dough, both at home and in theaters, only the true fans take them seriously. Most people rent horror movies in October, but once halloween passes those same horror movies are packed away, saved until the next halloween. True horror fans are fans year round, but most people aren't horror fans. They will watch a horror movie, but they do so because it is the "in" thing.
A lot of people believe that it is easy to scare someone. Sure they are right in the loosest sense. It doesn't take a rocket scienctist to jump out and scare someone. It does, however, take a lot of skill to really scare someone, to get underneath their skin so they won't sleep at night. Outside of the horror realm this talent goes unnoticed. No Oscars, no praise, nothing. Just another horror movie that people will soon forget and then say they were fans from day one.
I hold out hope that one day a horror movie will get the praise it deserves. I hold hope because I don't see it happening anytime soon. I love my horror movies, but I have to be realistic. But many believed that we would never have a black president, so there is hope for horror movies at the Oscars.

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