“I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though it’s like, no one cares about this anymore.”
Oscar-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet said this during the CNN and Variety Town Hall Event in a discussion with actor Matthew McConaughey. Chalamet is not shy to make bold statements: just last year at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, Chalamet publicly declared his pursuit of becoming “one of the greats” during his acceptance speech for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. While his words were certainly abrasive, his discussion highlights a growing issue in our pop culture.
Are we losing the arts?
Chalamet expressed his hopes that cinema stays popular enough that people choose to see a movie based on its content. Thus, the industry can tailor marketing campaigns to certain movies rather than having to garner pity to keep the industry alive. However, this view also implies that society in general has lost interest in performances.
I believe the issue stems from the oversimplification of movies to create a marketable package that production companies can sell to audiences, instead of creating work with genuine artistic meaning. This issue is further complicated by the implications of award season.
The Academy Awards have always been synonymous with success for a motion picture. But now, the criteria is reevaluated as most of the time, the movies that win the Oscar are not the major box office hits of the year. According to the New York Times, from 1980 to 2003, almost all of the movies that won Best Picture were in the top 20 highest-grossing films that year. From 2004 to 2018, none were in the top 10, and only three cracked the top 20.
This brings up pressing questions. Is the public simply not interested in “meaningful” work? Or is the market so oversaturated with curated marketing campaigns focused on viral moments that viewers have no attention left to give?
High-budget Oscar campaigns designed to sway academy voters are nothing new. In 2003, producer Harvey Weinstein came under fire for releasing “For Your Consideration” ads in an attempt to ensure that Martin Scorsese won Best Director for his movie “Gangs of New York.” Even more recently, “Anora,” which won Best Picture at the 2025 Oscars, spent $18 million on its Oscar campaign. The total is more than three times what they spent on the production of the film.
Producers are also trying to sway public opinion. Both the 2023 film “Barbie” and the 2026 film “Wicked: For Good” reportedly had a marketing budget of $150 million each. The campaigns leaned heavily on brand collaborations, resulting in both Wicked and Barbie-themed clothes, jewelry, and accessories. These products were virtually everywhere. Whether you were scrolling online or walking through stores, you could not escape the movies’ presence. These reinforced aesthetics garnered interest in their movies. Evidently, these tactics worked as “Wicked: For Good” made over $5 million worldwide, and Barbie made over $1 billion worldwide.
I believe the race for awards and box office hits is deteriorating our pop culture landscape. New artistic and creative ideas cannot prosper if they require millions of dollars to achieve box office or award season success. We need to stop prioritizing these marketable moments and instead focus on the stories behind each piece of work. Movies and entertainment create connection and enjoyment, and we cannot let them be taken away from us.
