# 2024 Oscar (96th Academy Awards) Nominations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [January 23, 2024, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-oscar-96th-academy-awards-nominations/996545 "2024-01-23T14:46:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 53
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-oscar-96th-academy-awards-nominations/996545/53 "2024-02-22T10:05:57Z")
I’ve now seen most but not all of the Best Picture nominees, and although most deserve to be on there, I’m perplexed by _American Fiction_ being nominated but not _Nyad_ or _Saltburn_. Obviously the judges are influenced by factors other than just artistic merit. I assume both AF and _Barbie_ got the nod because of their presumed “social relevance”, but there were lots of superior movies last year both in terms of creative skill and in terms of pure entertainment. ISTM that writers, directors, cinematographers, and performers applying their creative skills to entertain us is the basic purpose of movies; to the extent that they evoke emotions that resonate with us, that’s part of the “entertainment” aspect. I’m reminded of the apocryphal story sometimes attributed to Samuel Goldwyn – but also to others – that “if I want to send a message I’ll use Western Union”. This is one version of it: > “Mr. Goldwyn,” [a scriptwriter] said, “this is a wonderful opportunity to point out labor’s battle against capitalism. You have a chance here to bring a great message to the people.” > > Goldwyn looked at him. “Messages, messages,” he said. “From Western Union you get messages. From me you get pictures.” --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-oscar-96th-academy-awards-nominations/996545)._