Mia Harper Fairgrieve / 2025-3-20
The Oscars ceremony takes place annually, and as some might know, it just happened at the beginning of March. This revered award ceremony has occurred since 1929. The Academy and the Oscars were both created by Louis B. Mayer.
Here’s how it works: members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences vote for whoever they believe merits the win of each of the 23 categories. There are over 10,500 members, all of them the best and most qualified of 18 branches—acting, cinematography, costume design... the list goes on.
All of the categories except for Best Picture are decided by whoever received the most votes. Best Picture is slightly more complex, as members of the Academy rank the films 1-10 from their favourite to their least favourite. The following step is explained best by the article “Oscars Voting 101: How It Works and Who Gets to Vote”: “The film that gets 50 percent or more of the votes is the winner. If one movie doesn't get 50 percent out of the gate, the one with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the members who voted for that as their top choice have their votes added to the film that was next on their list. What happens if their second choice was the one that was eliminated? Well, their votes then go to their third choice, and so on. That process continues until one movie gets 50 percent or more of all the votes.”
This year, the Oscars ceremony happened on March 2nd. Anora swept the show of awards, taking Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Directing, Best Film Editing, Best Writing and Best Picture. The Brutalist took home less awards than Anora but still won Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Cinematography, and Best Music (Original Score). Emilia Pérez won Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and Best Music (Original Song). Dune: Part Two won Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. Wicked won Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design.
There have been some controversies around the winners of this year, particularly Emilia Pérez, although many people in the business who worked on other movies also had their own share of missteps. In a Today article, “How the 2025 Oscars became so controversial,” they state: “While there were some mixed reactions to the film, including GLAAD, who called it ‘a step backward for trans representation’, the film received mostly positive reviews from critics…” The director of this Spanish film was French, and did not speak Spanish, so questions have been raised about the quantity of research done for the movie and whether those involved with Emilia Pérez actually had respect for Mexico and its people.
The EGOT award is the accumulation of four important awards, and it has been called “the most coveted award in Hollywood”. EGOT stands for Emmy, the award for artistic and technical excellence in the TV industry; Grammy, the award for excellence in the music industry; Oscar, of course; and Tony, the award for excellence in live Broadway Theatre. Only 21 people have ever received the EGOT, including Elton John, Audrey Hepburn, and RuPaul.
These awards ceremonies come with their controversies and disappointment, but they are also a good reminder that if you win enough metal trophies, you can decide who else will win metal trophies.