Categories range from ‘Actor in a Leading Role’ to ‘Film Editing’. Popular nominations this year include Sinners, which has a total of 16 nominations and Marty Supreme, with a total of nine nominations.

However, statistics show that Gen Z is less likely to tune in to the live showing of award shows in general, compared to other generations. Instead, they are more likely to find other avenues to express their interest.

Creative advertising freshman Aliina Forester said she personally doesn’t watch the actual ceremony.

“I don't actually watch, like, the award part, but I love to watch the red carpet to see who's there,” Forester said. “I do like to see who the nominees are, but then, like, usually I just find out in the morning who won them. But I usually just like to see what they're wearing.”

However, Forester said she understands why others may be compelled to watch.

“I think a lot of people really, like, are big into films and things like that, and especially people who are going [into film], [and] film majors or just like, that's part of their job, or just kind of a niche interest,” Forester said. “Also, people love to see people that they love succeed. So it's like people who they look up to their idols or, like, role models, like people like to see who they like win something that they deserve.”

Similarly, creative advertising freshman Anna Williams said she prefers to look at the highlights on social media.

“After the fact, I definitely go and see who won, or I look at some of the looks, or obviously on social media you see, like, crazy moments at the award show where Chris Rock slapped Will Smith, like, obviously, everybody saw that, even though nobody was probably watching it live,” Williams said.

Film studies junior Jonathan Thorne said he normally doesn’t tune in, but is planning to for this year’s Oscars.

“I think this year I'm particularly interested because, honestly, I'm not usually that interested, but this year I felt like having a lot of good movies and good performances that I liked, so I am pretty excited for this year,” Thorne said.

Award shows in general, like the Oscars, Forester said, are “really cool.”

“I think, like, obviously, it's a really big accomplishment for all the actors and actresses out there,” Forester said. “I think it's really cool that they broadcast them and show them on TV, because it's like, a lot of people are interested in that. And so, yeah, I think it's a really, kind of, cool opportunity or kind of thing that they do.”

Thorne said award shows are an opportunity for “creative artists” to receive credit for their work.

“It's pretty historical. It's been going on for, you know, years and years. And I do think it's a way for like, creative artists and like, you know, the film area, for them to have a goal, to aim for, to get credit for like, outstanding performances and doing a good job,” Thorne said. “You know, in sports, you can vote for awards and all that stuff (it’s) a little easier. This is very statistical. You can just look at the numbers a lot of the time, but I think it's still cool, how (with) something in a more artistic way, you could still get awards…”

However, although she enjoys these types of ceremonies, Williams said there is a chance that some individuals are not recognized for their work.

“I think, although I love the films and award shows, I think there's like five, I'm talking about films, but like, there's like five people, or five films, or five anything that dominates the whole award show, and then, everybody else is kind of brushed to the side, which I think that these people in these films that are in the spotlight are very, very amazing and very, very talented,” Williams said. “But I think that also the people that are brushed to the side are also amazing and also talented, and they're overlooked.”

Each year, award shows, such as the Oscars, receive mixed reactions regarding the nominations for their categories.

Thorne agrees with this year’s Oscars nominations.

“I think this year was very great, specifically on three movies I saw, One Battle After Another, Sinners and Marty Supreme towards the end, I know all three, I thought, like all these movies, absolutely deserve nominations in several categories,” Thorne said. “And, you know, they all got nominations for several categories. I believe that Sinners have, like, broke some record or something for nominations, and I think it's very deserving. And I think, you know, a lot of these films deserve to win. So I think this year's was pretty good, pretty fair. Granted, I haven't seen every movie nominated.”

Forester said these nominations can leave others feeling snubbed for an award.

“I think that there's certain actors or like, not even just in the Oscars, but in other award ceremonies and shows that like, they don't get enough recognition, especially for like, what they do, or the people who win them, like, I personally feel like the other ones kind of got, like, gypped, or like, I don't know, they should have gotten it, but other people, you know, kind of up-showed them,” Forester said.

Similarly, Williams said, although she agrees with this year's nominations, films with more popularity tend to overshadow the others.

“I agree with them in general, yeah, because, for example, like Sinners this year won a lot of (nominations), and I absolutely loved Sinners, and compared to what it was going against, I do agree with that,” Williams said. “But…I do think that there's also a lot of films that came out that are, like, niche or like, not a lot of people watch them, and they only didn't make the spotlight because a lot of people didn't watch them.”

However, the viewership decline among Gen Z, Thorne said, is due to social media.

“I think it's due to the shifting way that the younger generation actually, like, you know, watches content a lot. I think, back in the old days, it was always, when everyone had cable, you would flip to the cable channel that had it. You know, it was a big event,” Thorne said. “But now, since we're all more focused on our phones and shorter form stuff, you can just see the clips. You can just go on YouTube and just search up the results. And I don't even think that's necessarily all bad, because I think by doing that, it saves you a lot of time. You don't have to sit through a bunch of ads or things that you weren't interested in…”

The decline in viewership, especially among younger generations, Thorne said, has impacts that range in severity.

“It's gotten to maybe (where) people question the actual value of the Oscars, like maybe, the people who actually run it want to invest less money in it,” Thorne said. “However, I would still say, I think that in terms of the actual, you know, artists, actual directors, and actors and all that, I think they still very much value these awards. I think people still really respect these awards. Like, I don't think that has gone down at all, the actual like, respect, or the impact, but maybe the show itself and the production has shifted, or had to shift, or is going to have to shift how they do things.”

Williams said the decline may impact artists who are lesser known.

“We see all the big moments, but we don't see a lot of the smaller artists that won,” Williams said. “So like, I think that because of that, a lot of the artists that did win that aren't up for as many big categories, or that aren't as recognizable as like Sinners, I was mentioning before, they get overlooked, and they don't get as much recognition for their award, and they don't move up as much in the industry as, like, already popular artists do, like 'the rich get richer' kind of thing.”

In terms of the future of award shows, Thorne said he isn’t “predicting a big comeback.”

“...I do want to say that with apps like ‘Kalshi’ and other prediction markets, you can actually now bet on different winners, like [on] who wins different awards. You can bet on who wins ‘Best Actor,’ ‘Best Movie,’ best anything, and 'Best Soundtrack.’” Thorne said. “I don't think that's going to get younger people into it on a large scale, but I would not be surprised if some guys, who normally wouldn't care too much about this stuff, would want to, like, put some money [on it] just because they think, you know, they have a good prediction and yeah, but I don't think that's enough to bring it back. But I wouldn't be surprised if that does boost some viewership.”

Similarly, Williams said she doesn’t believe that award shows will rise in popularity.

“I don't know if I see a comeback happening,” Williams said. “I think that there could definitely be adaptations made to award shows so that they don't last two or three hours, or like that, they're more entertaining for people like us with short attention spans, or like, people who get really, really busy with their days. Like, I think adaptations can be made, but I think with the current way that award shows are going, I'm not sure that they're gonna make a comeback.”

However, in the future, Forester said it could be possible to persuade younger viewers to tune in. 

“...With all these newer films, a lot of people are kind of getting brought up that we didn't know before, and there's a lot of stars that people are and definitely will begin to really like,” Forester said. “So I think if we get another kind of person that everyone loves, I think that will definitely have a rise in award show (viewership) like this.”

Understanding what trends younger generations are interested in, Williams said, could help drive up interest.

“I think that, like, meme culture is really big, like different trends, so integrating that into the award show somehow, or even polling, like going to social media apps that younger generations use, and polling, ‘Who do you want to see in the award show?’ and just asking the audience directly, because it's so easy nowadays, like you can just upload a survey and anybody can take it anywhere,” Williams said.