Scream queens and movie screens

Allow me to preface this piece by saying that I am by no means a horror film aficionado. While I have an immense appreciation for the genre, I take no enjoyment in the physical sensation of being frightened: the feeling of my heart beating faster, my adrenaline spiking, and the knowledge that my dreams that night are going to be vivid and bloodcurdling are not in the least bit pleasant. Nonetheless, I consider myself a lover of film in general, which constitutes acknowledging the merit of all genres, horror included. It has provided us with countless cultural moments, inside jokes, and scream queens like Jamie Lee Curtis and Drew Barrymore.

Many people believe that The Academy is notorious for granting “preferential treatment” to certain kinds of films—while this is completely uncorroborated, it’s quite colloquially known that “Oscar-winning movies” (at least, in the “big 4” categories) are typically dramas and typically English-speaking. Films that are well known for having little to no chance at winning Oscars in any major category (although they may occasionally receive critical acclaim) are “superhero movies,” comedies, “chick-flicks,” and, of course, horror movies.

Gems of the horror movie industry include Scream, It, Nightmare on Elm Street, and more recently, films such as Ari Aster’s Midsommar and Hereditary, and Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Us, and Nope. Horror even has genres within its larger genre—there is slasher horror, psychological horror, comedic horror, sci-fi horror, body horror, etc. There is much to be gained from horror movies. Jordan Peele’s films, for instance, use horror movie tropes as a tool to be able to dissect racial issues. 

The Academy’s lack of recognition for horror films was seemingly confirmed by writer Joe Hill, who tweeted in 2019: “Not a question in my mind that Florence Pugh should catch a Best Actress nomination for the emotional precision of her performance in MIDSOMMAR. But you and I both know that horror, like the superhero film, remains a second-class genre when it comes to prize consideration.” This was seconded by horror legend Stephen King, who quoted the tweet saying, “It’s true. Horror is usually considered a ghetto genre.”

Since the dawn of The Academy in 1929 (making it 93 years old to date), only eighteen horror movies have received Oscars, and The Silence of the Lambs is the only one to have ever won Best Picture. Notable performances including Toni Collette in Hereditary, Lupita Nyong’o in Us, Florence Pugh in Midsommar and Anya-Taylor Joy in VVitch, have all been snubbed by The Academy despite receiving well-deserved critical acclaim. 

Various members of the film industry vote on the Oscar winners each year, but the members must first be approved by a Board of Governors. It can therefore be argued that members that sit on the panel may hold certain biases that encourage them to overlook certain genres in favour of films that are more “prestigious.” Horror and superhero movies are often relegated to awards like visual effects, while dramas are considered for more coveted categories like Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Picture. 

At the end of the day, Oscar wins have a large impact on the film community—winning films in major categories reflect extremely well on their studios, and they can completely alter the course of an actor’s career. Denying horror films the opportunity to win these awards (despite the fact that many of them are critically acclaimed and universally loved) is doing them, and the film industry at large, an extreme disservice. Even as someone who actively refuses to watch horror films, I can’t deny the impact that they’ve had on pop culture and the Western film canon. The Academy should strive to diversify their panel and deconstruct the biases that suggest that certain categories of film are less important, or less deserving of being celebrated based on arbitrary, stereotypical factors.