New Oscars standards say best picture contenders must be inclusive to compete

[Filuwaúrdjan]

To actually approve of this, to genuinely think it a good idea, one's notion of the object of cinema must be fundamentally dreary. It would be necessary to believe, to really believe, that it is best understood as production, not as art. That the great tension that defines cinema - is it culture or is it industry? Is it art or is it commerce? - is in fact non-existent, with the matter decided in hands-down in favour of the bean counters. Needless to say, this is exactly how the powers that be in Hollywood do view cinema (and always have viewed cinema), but that does not mean that they are right.