# Oscars have new rules for best picture in 2024 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 9, 2020, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127 "2020-09-09T01:29:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4bbf92/32.png) [@Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Hamsandwich)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/61 "2020-09-10T21:34:06Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > What is the art involved in a big blockbuster? Sorry, Raiders of the Lost Ark, at least to me, will always be a piece of masterful artistry. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/62 "2020-09-10T21:37:14Z")
People are focusing on Standard 1, but that’s just one of four standards, and the only one that would be apparent to moviegoers. The others just involve diversity behind the scenes. Even Standard 1 should be easy enough to meet, unless the cast is extremely limited (like My Dinner With Andre) or it’s a historical drama that takes place entirely on a Viking ship in the 10th Century. If it’s set in medieval Europe, you can have 30% of the cast be women. If it’s in an all male setting, like the army or a prison, you can have ethnic diversity. There are very few plots that couldn’t accommodate those rules, and even so you could satisfy some of the others instead. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/63 "2020-09-10T21:46:51Z")
Anyone have any idea of how many of the past Best Picture winners or nominees would have been be excluded under these guidelines? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/64 "2020-09-10T21:58:48Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Anyone have any idea of how many of the past Best Picture winners or nominees would have been be excluded under these guidelines? . You could figure out Standard 1 fairly easily, but the rest would be tough without extensive research. You might often be able to identify women by first name, but not always, and you couldn’t identify most African Americans by just names as listed in credits. And before recent decades few if any movies would have qualified on Standard 3. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/65 "2020-09-10T23:14:25Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Also, of course, if we’re not shedding light, we’re making radio. Love that. ---
**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/66 "2020-09-10T23:23:59Z")
_My Dinner With Eric Andre_ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/67 "2020-09-10T23:41:45Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > There are very few plots that couldn’t accommodate those rules, and even so you could satisfy some of the others instead. _Das Boot_ would fail miserably. All 9 hours of it. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/68 "2020-09-11T01:46:28Z")
Even a sausage fest like _Das Boot_ did have a couple of (small) female roles, and a few of the creative directors were women. (Not enough to qualify, though.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/69 "2020-09-11T01:54:36Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Anyone have any idea of how many of the past Best Picture winners or nominees would have been be excluded under these guidelines? Probably lots. But that’s the point, of course. It would take minimal adjustment to fit, and now they have motivation to do so. And if they don’t qualify, oh well, no awards. You can still make your movie, just no gong for you. But then, you also wouldn’t get an Oscar if David Spade was in the cast. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/70 "2020-09-11T03:54:08Z")
I don’t think “Lawrence of Arabia” would qualify, either. It’s been a long time since I saw it, but I don’t remember seeing a single woman in that whole 4-hour epic. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/71 "2020-09-11T04:15:50Z")
There are some women on the cathedral steps in the funeral scene, but I don’t think any of them speak. See at 3:03 here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/xPoh4kgD6xQ?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=RDxPoh4kgD6xQ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/72 "2020-09-11T04:17:51Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I don’t think “Lawrence of Arabia” would qualify, either. It’s been a long time since I saw it, but I don’t remember seeing a single woman in that whole 4-hour epic. However, it could qualify on the basis of featuring an LGBTQ person. Lawrence was widely suspected of being homosexual (although he may have been asexual). The film hints at his relationship with his teenage male servants Farraj and Daud, and also his homosexual rape when taken prisoner by the Turks. If it were made today no doubt these hints would be made more explicit. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/73 "2020-09-11T04:21:40Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > his is the one I have a problem with: Has anyone opposed to this new rule actually read it? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/74 "2020-09-11T06:44:12Z")
Plenty of non-White actors in that one - including main character actors Sharif (Egyptian) and Quinn (Eskimo) ETA: that last one is a [joke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MegdMhdseuI). Quinn was actually Latino. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lantern2/32/3010_2.png) [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/75 "2020-09-11T07:40:51Z")
It’s probably not that difficult to meet two of the standards anyway but the whole idea of creating quantitative criteria for roles/storylines to qualify for an award strikes me as silly. No one should take the Oscars seriously anyway and now there is even less reason to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/76 "2020-09-11T15:34:58Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Plenty of non-White actors in that one - including main character actors Sharif (Egyptian) and Quinn (Eskimo) > > ETA: that last one is a [joke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MegdMhdseuI). Quinn was actually Latino. However, Quinn did play an Eskimo in [The Savage Innocents,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Savage_Innocents), probably the source of Dylan’s reference. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/77 "2020-09-11T15:38:32Z")
Realistically, if Lawrence of Arabia were made today, some of the Arab or Turkish roles would be played by actors of the right ethnicity. That a movie made over fifty years ago with many non-white roles is full of white actors is irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/78 "2020-09-11T15:45:39Z")
More likely the song [The Mighty Quinn](https://genius.com/Manfred-mann-the-mighty-quinn-lyrics). He’s an Eskimo. I do remember the movie, but I think the song is more well known. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/79 "2020-09-11T15:48:54Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > > [@MrDibble](#): > > > > Plenty of non-White actors in that one - including main character actors Sharif (Egyptian) and Quinn (Eskimo) > > > > ETA: that last one is a [joke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MegdMhdseuI). Quinn was actually Latino. > > However, Quinn did play an Eskimo in [The Savage Innocents,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Savage_Innocents), probably the source of Dylan’s reference. I know - well, he played an Inuit, at any rate. But the catchy tune made for a better link… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127/80 "2020-09-11T15:50:06Z")
I think you missed my link [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-have-new-rules-for-best-picture-in-2024/920127.md?page=5)