hey man I cant argue against that duh they are

Sigh, nevermind. Guess I have to argue.. First of all, I never said that. In fact, I never said anything-- so you're assuming that's what I meant and attacking it. I disagree that the Oscars are still culturally relevant for the following reasons: Firstly, In the past, audiences shared a unified pop-culture experience. Everyone went to the same theaters to watch the same blockbusters, making the Best Picture nominees a baseline for household conversation. But today, media is really fragmented. Streaming algorithms create personalized feeds, meaning a film can be a massive success on a platform without ever registering with the general public. Secondly, viewers no longer feel the need to sit through a long live television broadcast. Audiences prefer to catch the fashion highlights, major snubs, and dramatic viral moments on social media after they happen. Despite broadcast ratings dropping to 17.9 million viewers, social media impressions for the ceremony surged by over 42% to 184 million (Source here, from the Hollywood Reporter by the way https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/oscars-2026-tv-ratings-1236534637/) proving the conversation has entirely shifted digital. Thirdly, TRADITIONAL linear television is dying out, especially among younger people who've never owned a cable subscription. Recognizing this massive drain in live TV audiences, the Academy has had to adapt, even striking a historic deal to officially move the Oscars broadcast to YouTube by 2029 in an attempt to get international and younger audiences to watch again

Is it cultural relevance if you see that headline in your feed the next morning? Nope! just algorithmic noise. There is a huge difference between actively engaging with a cultural moment and passively scrolling past it. In the past, the Oscars were relevant because the movies nominated actually shaped the culture, drove people to theaters, and sparked deep watercooler conversations. Today, knowing who won Best Picture because it popped up on your TikTok or Twitter feed for five seconds takes zero investment! So, consider this: people are also aware of the Elon Musk tweet from yesterday, or that trending meme from this morning, but that isn't some PROFOUND cultural lesson. It is literally just the internet algorithms doing what they are built to do and bringing trending data right into our face. If nobody is actually watching the movies, nobody is actually watching the show, and three weeks down the line, people forget who won, and then the Oscars aren't a cultural thing anymore; they are merely a passing noise on our social media feeds.

Ahem.. uh, there is a massive logical flaw in this. Viral clips of the Oscars don't get people talking about movies, they get people talking about celebrities. Imagine that a clip from the Oscars is trending on TikTok or X, and people are not discussing the amazing perforamnce of a Best Picture contender. They are talking about an outfit, a joke from a presenter, or a disastrous live-to-air blunder. The movies themselves, the very reason that the awards are held, are being entirely ignored. If a shared cultural moment relies on people gossiping about a 15-second red carpet clip while still having absolutely no intention of watching the movie that won, then the Oscars have failed their core purpose. They are no longer a celebration of cinema; they've just been downgraded to a high-budget reality TV show that feeds the social media content machine for 24 hours before being forgotten. So, with this, I conclude-- awards shows like the Oscars are no longer culturally relevant because the focus has simply shifted with the new, younger generation. :D