Poll: Should there be an Oscar for comedy movies?

[Oly J]

Years ago my sister showed me "A comedian at the oscars" a song performed by Will Ferrell, Jack Black and John C Reily at one of the Oscars ceremonies years ago (not sure which one exactly) and it highlighted the fact that, generally speaking, at least these days (I'm not sure about the history here) comedy movies never win Oscars, and we got to talking and she seems to think that there should be a category specific to Comedy, seeing as how there already is one for animation.

Now while I don't think that's necessarily a bad idea, I'm not sure, on the one hand many have been the times I've asked a person what there favorite movie is, and they've responded with a comedy, I don't bother asking why that is anymore because the answer is always something to the effect of "it's just really funny". Also I've seen a few comedies that were also genuinely good movies quite apart from being funny, Ted being the best example I can think of off the top of my head (in my opinion at least).


On the other hand, while it would be nice to see more things that aren't biopics win Oscars (I know Biopics don't always win best picture but they always win at least one I think) if there were a category specific to comedy, that would mean a genre has it's own award, which might lead to other genres getting one too and where would that end? Take that to it's logical conclusion and you're looking at an Oscars ceremony where about 70% of films released in theatres throughout the year have been nominated to make up the genre categories. This is to say nothing of the fact that many would argue that comedy isn't really the type of thing that should have an award, as it's built around making people laugh which, as indicators of quality go is the most subjective and unreliable indicator I can think of.

so what do you guys think? should comedies get an Oscar category? if they did what movies of the past do you think would've won?

 

[madwarper]

No.

Just because a movie is comedic in nature, doesn't mean it has to be on the level of drivel that Ferrell, Black and Reily have been making.

Case in point, The Artist won best picture in 2012 and Shakespeare in Love won in 1998, both are romantic comedy/dramas.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Eh once you make a special Oscar for comedies you might as well start making up categories for the Action, Horror and Superhero genre. I would also argue sometimes it's hard to separate drama from comedy. So no, I don't think they should make up any more categories. If the Academy wants to reward nothing but dramas and biopics, whatevs. Each person gives them the value they want to give them.

 

[shadow_Fox81]

nah man, Animation gets its own award because its a fundamentally different discipline to film.

Comedy doesn't need an award of its own because being a good comedy and a good film aren't as mutually exclusive as they are often made to be.

But most of my favorite films are comedies or contain comedy.

 

[Random Argument Man]

I think it would add a little disaster effect on the comedy genre as a whole. Sure, they make bad comedy films just to make sure that Hollywood gets some money. However, I'm just thinking of the pre-oscar season when we see a ton of films made just to be Oscar baits. Those films are made to please the Oscar crowd. Most of the time, they are boring and tend to follow the same formula. I'd hate to see some comedies being built just to please one group instead of being something that can make you laugh every time you watch it.

 

[Rblade]

heh, you should watch the southpark episode with funnybot, comedy shouldn't take itself serious or it defeats the point

 

[Lilani]

I don't think genres get their own Oscars, do they? As someone else pointed out, animation gets its own Oscar because it is a completely different discipline with its own set of rules and principles--much the way the Tony's "Best" awards are split into best play and best musical.

So, no. Comedies shouldn't get their own Oscar, because neither do any other genres. And besides, that would be very tedious. Coming up with the "standards" of what makes a good Comedy, Western, drama, romance, action, whatever...and not all movies neatly fit into one of those genres.

 

[Raikas]

Nah, comedies do get nominated for (and occasionally win) Best Picture, so why would they need a separate category?

In overall terms there's no huge difference - you still need to judge the performances, the costumes, the sound effects, the score, and so on. The Golden Globes have a separate category, but I gather that's a holdover from when there were enough musicals to warrant their own section (and arguably since those have a significantly different requirements for sound and acting styles, that made sense).

 

[K_Dub]

I say no. After all, comedy is subjective in nature. And if you try to take all the comedy films from a given year, and attempt to rank them from best to worst, taking in several people's opinions on what makes for a good comedy, you're just gonna end up with a whole lotta yelling and people getting angry that "their choice" wasn't even nominated!