New Oscar category will actually HURT popular films?

[Wraith]

Until 2016, the AMPAS (the committee who votes for the Oscar winners) was something like an average age of 63, 76% male, 94% white and overwhelmingly US citizens. There was a particularly high-profile protest by people such as Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith who boycotted the ceremony that year, and the AMPAS were forced to take on a large number of new, more diverse members - they're now something like 40% female and 13% PoC.

As such, I can't help but feel that this new proposal is just a a snobbish way of the old guard trying to maintain their control over what they see as being the "rightful" winners, giving them an excuse to dismiss popular films compared to "worthy" offerings for the Best Picture award by 'hiding' them in a new category. It's segregation, of a kind - an "the same but not equal" mentality.

So I think that it just proves that we ought to remember more keenly: The AMPAS is a private committee of self-appointed judges who have no formal authority and any prestige they have is entirely illusionary. While I'm sure that winning any award is nice for a film maker, the Oscars represent no one but themselves and their own private opinions - they've never meant to reflect public preference.