Even though it was a historic night for the Academy Awards, as “Parasite” shocked the world and became the first foreign-language film in the Oscars’ 92-year-history to win Best Picture, according to early numbers (via Variety), last night’s ceremony drew 23.6 million viewers, which set a new record-low for the Oscars.
Compared to last year’s telecast, the ratings were down by 20% (6 million viewers). The previous record-low for the awards telecast was 2018, when “Moonlight” took home the Best Picture award, that ceremony earned 26.5 million viewers.
It is not surprising that Awards shows, in general, have been seeing rating declines for years now. The general disinterest towards the elite self-congratulating each other seems to run contrary to the current political climate, which doesn’t hold celebrities and, more specifically, the rich in much high-esteem, especially if they decide to delve into the political during their acceptance speeches, which is something we saw a lot of last night. At some point, enough is enough. It became so ridiculous on Sunday night that it came to a crescendo with Joaquin Phoenix’s batshit crazy speech about cow insemination and cancel culture became a meme in itself.