The Razzies on Sunday published an open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences addressing the Oscars’ new category honoring the best popular film.
“The Razzies don’t always get it right. We get called on it. We usually ignore it because well — who takes the Razzies seriously?” began the letter from the organization, which recognizes the worst movies and performances of the year the day before the Academy Awards. “But seriously we’re not the Oscars. The Oscars are not the low-brow $4.97 statuette that reminds otherwise good talent they done bad or the talent-free they done made too much money.
“The Oscars lowering themselves to ‘honor’ popular fare just to get more eyeballs is not conducive to their brand. Everyone depends on Oscar to point out the good stuff that might not otherwise be seen,” the note continued.
The letter added that the new Oscar category may overshadow the Razzie Awards’ work: “We sift through bottom-of-the-barrel mindless popular and sometimes unpopular entertainment. The Razzies invite the ‘dis-honored’ to humble themselves and ‘own their bad.’ That’s our job.”
The note concluded: “So a tip to our older more distinguished bald brother: You are our inspiration — don’t fail us now. The Razzies are co-dependent on Oscar. If you are devalued — so are we.”
