Persephone's (Gothic) Insights

I wanted to relay my thoughts on the award hype surrounding  Guillermo del Toro's  The Shape of Water  (2017)  , and what value said hype could possibly have,  in and of itself . Part one discussed the state of movies, before and after the Oscars materialized, and the struggle movies today face when getting made, versus years ago. Part two discussed Academy constraints and favoritism.  Part three shall now attempt to explain why the Oscars still matter and what a big win possibly means for del Toro, if anything. As I wrote in part two , Oscar publicity is the so-called cherry on the cake (or, one of the cakes: the theatrical version). So why does this cherry matter? I'd say it's because the cherry represents "the best"; even if someone is not, calling them so causes people to think of them as such. Think, the Cowardly Lion, in  The Wizard of Oz  (1939): he isn't brave, but with a nice, big medal, people will perceive him as courageous, anyways...

I wanted to relay my thoughts on the award hype surrounding  Guillermo del Toro's  The Shape of Water  (2017)  , and what value said hype could possibly have,  in and of itself . Part one discussed the state of movies, before and after the Oscars materialized, and the struggle movies today face when getting made, versus years ago. Here, part two discusses Academy constraints and favoritism.  Part three shall attempt to explain why the Oscars still matter and what a big win possibly means for del Toro, if anything. Movies generally what they are, with or without big awards like the Oscars. That being said, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be somewhat giddy at the thought of a favorite sci-fi, horror, or fantasy film winning lots of awards, including the Oscars. This is because Awards mean two things: public attention and sovereign, critical accolades. Even if these things are hallow, they usually (though not always) spur producers to shell out money on r...