‘Lady Bird’ Snubbed at All-Time Low-Rated Oscars (UPDATED)

In December, the 2017 take at the U.S. movie box office looked to hit a three-year low. Even with $400M from “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” the domestic total as of Christmas Day stood at $10.68B, 2.7% below last year. According to Variety, the final tally, even with Christmas moviegoing added in, looked to be about $270M below 2016, which itself fell short of 2015.

Last night’s Academy Awards broadcast suffered a similar fate with the public.

With the preliminary overnight ratings in, the Academy Awards is danger of hitting a new all-time low in viewership. From Variety:

Live viewership of the 90th annual Academy Awards ceremony was down significantly from the 2017 telecast, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings for ABC’s nearly four-hour telecast.

The 8 p.m.-11 p.m. portion of ABC’s telecast averaged an 18.9 household rating and 32 share in Nielsen’s metered market overnight ratings, which cover about 70% of U.S. TV households. That’s down about 16% from the 22.5/37 rating generated by the 2017 Oscars.

However, the preliminary ratings are not adjusted for time zone differences. ABC’s 8 p.m.-11:48 p.m. ET Oscarcast aired live coast to coast, which means the live West Coast viewership is not accurately reflected in the overnight numbers that measure only primetime hours in all markets.

UPDATE: A staggering graph from The Hollywood Reporter:

After a year in which sex-abuse and sexual-harassment scandals have battered many industries — Hollywood prominent among them — the Oscars couldn’t avoid the issue entirely. Piled on top of this is continued criticism that the industry (and the Academy Awards) discriminates, passively or actively, against ethnic minorities and women.

Host Jimmy Kimmel couldn’t ignore all this. In an attempt perhaps to woo back the moviegoing public, he gathered up some stars and trooped across Hollywood Boulevard to surprise an audience at a preview of “A Wrinkle in Time” with snacks. While the audience members seemed thrilled, the sight of begowned and tuxedoed stars tossing candy to ordinary folk was … odd.

Click here for the Washington Post’s rundown of the usual political digs and statements, along with other awkward moments.

The theme of male LGBT coming-of-age also proved popular with Oscar voters, with the win last year by “Moonlight,” and a Best Adapted Screenplay nod going this year to “Call Me By Your Name,” a lushly appointed drama about a twentysomething man pursuing a troubled teenage boy.

This year’s Best Picture went to “The Shape of Water,” Mexican director Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy tale about a mute woman who has sex with a fish-man.

Sadly, “Lady Bird” — an acclaimed film about the Catholic-school days of a quirky non-Catholic student (Saoirse Ronan) and her fraught relationship with her mother (Laurie Metcalf) — was entirely snubbed (as was “Mudbound” and “The Post”).

While “Spotlight,” which took an unflinching look at the Church’s sex-abuse scandals, won Best Picture in 2016, a movie focused on a female coming-of-age, that was kindly and affectionate toward nuns, faith and Catholic education, was sent home empty-handed. Ah, well.

There was also an admission during the broadcast that very few of the nominated films made much money. But it’s been that way for many years … and the Oscars isn’t a popularity contest. It’s the collective opinions of a very particular group of people in a particular industry at a particular time. They care what the public thinks when it comes to money, but the awards are given to each other.

The last unqualified hit to take best picture was “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” in 2003.

Maybe it’s time to return to a great Catholic writer. Who’s up for a Flannery O’Connor feature film? On the other hand … one shudders to think what Hollywood might make of her stories.

But then, these days, there are ways to make movies that have nothing to do with mainstream Hollywood.

And for Catholic filmmakers, it’s about a much bigger prize than a little golden statue.

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