Robert Carey

26 May 2015
Writing 121
Monson
Film awards are a big deal, whether or not we would like to admit it. We all enjoy
watching the Oscars or the Golden Globes, but I believe there is a big problem regarding the
prestigious award ceremonies. How many people have actually seen the films that are nominated
and win these awards? I dont feel that the Academy Awards or Golden Globes give the proper
respect to genre films, which include science fiction, fantasy and horror/thrillers. But these are
the films that most people watch, the people who fill theater seats week after week. There are
recognitions for the type of films most people enjoy, although very few people know about them.
Since 1991 when The Silence of the Lambs won the Best Picture Academy Award, there
has been an increasing number of genre films being nominated for the top awards but the last one
to actually win was The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in 2003. Films like The Sixth
Sense, Avatar, District 9 and Gravity have been nominated and some of the actors have won
acting awards, like Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight and Natalie Portman for Black Swan. But
it has been over ten years since Return of the King, a fantasy genre film, won Best Picture, and it
was twelve years between when The Silence of the Lambs won to Return of the King.
(oscars.org) That is why I have turned my attention to the Saturn Awards, awarded by The
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films (saturnawards.org). The Saturn Awards
give more respect to genre films than the Oscars, in that they actually acknowledge their
existence and give them more prestigious awards than just technical ones. The Saturn Awards are
the solution to the problem of underrepresentation of science fiction, fantasy and horror films
from the Academy Awards.

The Academy Awards are almost as old as the movie industry itself. In 1927, MGM
studio chief Louis B. Mayer organized a group to benefit the film industry. He invited 36
representatives from all the creative branches of the film industry to join the International
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 1928 this organization created Awards of Merit
for various film categories, which became the first Oscars in 1929. (oscars.org). Perhaps at that
time the film industry was struggling to establish itself as a serious art form versus live theater,
and the tradition began of honoring only serious films. Although It Happened One Night was
one of the first Best Pictures in 1934, awarding even comedies has been rare over the history of
the Oscars. (oscars.org)
In the 1940's the horror genre was popular but the films were mostly known for their
gross special effects (Schneider, p. 184) while serious and high-quality films such as Citizen
Kane were being made at the same studios. By the early 1960s, a genre film could be "either a
lavish blockbuster or a stark, seedy exercise." (Thompson and Bordwell, p. 316). Eventually the
studios studied the ticket sales and started to make many higher budget genre films such as Star
Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Since then, year after year, genre films such as Sci-Fi and
Fantasy films are the top grossing films. The top five grossing films in history are Avatar
(fantasy), Titanic (action/romance), The Avengers (action), Furious 7 (action), and Harry Potter
and the Deathly Hollows (fantasy). (Wikipedia, "List of Highest Grossing Films"). Only Titanic
was a top grossing film that also won a Best Picture Oscar (oscars.org). Even making a fair
historical comparison by comparing ticket sales adjusted for inflation, Avatar and Star Wars are
right behind Gone With the Wind as the highest grossing films in history adjusted for inflation
(Wikipedia, "List of Highest Grossing Films.") Clearly, genre films, including Sci-Fi and
Fantasy, are the films that sell tickets and fill theaters. These are the films that make money for

motion picture studios and allow them to make 'serious' films which will be honored by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with an Oscar.
Since the 1980s, the financial success of a film depends not only on its ticket sales in
movie theaters but also on the ancillary markets: home video, cable, broadcast TV, sound-track
CDs, and tie-in merchandising. The only way movies make money 95 percent of the time is
when all the markets are added up, remarked the president of Fox Filmed Entertainment
(Thompson and Bordwell, p.666). You would only have to visit San Diego's Comic-Con once to
realize the merchandising value of an action-adventure, Sci-Fi, or Fantasy film.
In a world that is overflowing with such hot button issues like abortion, gay marriage and
the like, why are film awards still so important? Even more so, why are awards for genre films
such as sci-fi and horror movies so important? Because films are an important element in our
popular culture. Films play an important role in storytelling and are part of our shared culture.
"Movies function as consensus narratives, popular cultural products that provide us with shared
experiences" (Campbell, p. 215), in addition to being a multi-billion dollar business. As a result,
film awards are some of the few things that we can discuss and debate (or more likely, argue) on
without having to bring up sensitive and divisive topics like politics and/or religion.
Many of those aforementioned "hot button" issues tend to come down to religious and/or
political beliefs. Films, while the subjects of which can be political or religious, dont have to be
talked about in a political or religious context. A group of friends, who might have different
religious upbringings or different feelings about religion, can go see a movie that has themes of
faith and spirituality and leave with different opinions on the subject matter. They may not agree
with each other on those things, they can agree on whether or not the film was any good. They
can talk about whether or not they liked it, or what parts of it they enjoyed the most without

getting into a heated debate that could result in awkward drama afterwards. It wont make them
question the status of their friendship, which is something that talking about religion or politics
has the potential to do.
The Saturn Awards play a key role in this shared experience. Often the films that get
nominated by the Academy Awards are about those hot topics. Some of them are even about
more than one of those things. For example, many serious movies that are about homosexuality
or other LGBT people are also about AIDS/HIV and prejudice and discrimination, like Dallas
Buyers Club. This doesnt make the movies necessarily bad (or good), but it does lead to a very
heavy film that can make you think and/or leaving you down in spirits. The Saturn Awards
however nominate and award movies that are largely escapist entertainment. These movies can
deal with heavy subject matter, but they are by-and-large popcorn flicks. This doesnt make these
films bad. If the movie-going public was shown nothing but heavy, Oscar-worthy dramas, the
cinemas would be largely empty, based on the above discussion of top grossing films. We need
movies like Avatar and 300 to take a break from reality and the Saturn Awards praise these films
like the Academy praises The Hurt Locker and 12 Years a Slave.
What exactly are the Saturn Awards? They are annual awards that are given out to films
and people who are considered to be the best in their respective categories. They were founded in
1972 by the Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy and Horror Films, and the organization's focus
is to "honor and recognize the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror films
(saturnawards.org). As of 2015, the Saturn Award categories are as follows:
Best science fiction film, best fantasy film, best horror film, best thriller, best
action or adventure film (formerly best action/adventure/thriller film), best
animated film, best international film, best independent film, best comic-to-screen

adaptation, best director, best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best
supporting actress, best performance by a younger actor, best writing, best music,
best make-up, best costume, best special effects, best production design, and best
editing.
There have been times when the Saturns and the Oscars were in agreement. When The
Silence of the Lambs was crowned Best Picture of 1991, it was also awarded Best Horror Film of
1991. Likewise, when Forrest Gump and Return of the King won their Best Picture Oscars in
their respective years, they also won Best Fantasy Film Saturns. Stephen Spielberg won Best
Director for both Schindlers List and Jurassic Park in 1993. Peter Jackson was the first one to
win it for the same film, the aforementioned Return of the King. Recently, both awards gave a
posthumous Best Supporting Actor award to Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight and both
Jennifer Lawrence and Anne Hathaway won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for both
of their respective films (Silver Linings Playbook and The Hunger Games for Lawrence; Les
Miserables and The Dark Knight Rises for Hathaway). (oscars.org and saturnawards.org)
The Saturn Awards provide a more balanced treatment of animated features, one of our
most beloved film categories. I think its safe to say that the Oscars have a bias towards Disney
films (which includes Pixar). From the very first year they introduced the Best Animated Feature
in 2001, only five of the winners were non-Disney pictures: Shrek (DreamWorks Animation,
2001), Spirited Away (Studio Ghibli, 2002), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
(Aardman/DreamWorks Animation, 2005), Happy Feet (Warner Bros., 2006) and Rango
(Nickelodeon Movies/Paramount, 2011). Every other animated film that has won has been from
either Pixar or Disney (oscars.org). The Saturn Awards began an animated film category back in
1978, during a time when Disney movies didnt really set the box office on fire, and Pixar didnt

even exist. The category was discontinued in 1982, but it was brought back in 2002. Since 1978,
the Saturn Awards have given the award to seven non-Disney films: Watership Down (Warner
Bros., 1978), The Secret of NIMH (MGM, 1982), Spirited Away (Studio Ghibli, 2002), Tim
Burtons Corpse Bride (Tim Burton Productions/Warner Bros., 2005), Monsters vs. Aliens
(DreamWorks, 2009), Puss in Boots (DreamWorks, 2011) and Frankenweenie (Tim Burton
Productions, 2012). (saturnawards.org) Its worth noting that Frankenweenie actually beat
Pixars Brave, which the Academy Awards unsurprisingly awarded Best Animated Feature, even
though Frankenweenie was better received by critics: Brave-78%; Frankenweenie-87%
(rottentomatoes.com).
The Saturns also treat animated films better because, unlike the Oscars, the Saturns also
acknowledge voice actors. The Academy Awards have never nominated any actor in any of the
animated movies they have nominated and awarded. Not even the ones they have nominated for
Best Picture as well. Its my belief that voice acting is no different than live action acting, and so
does the Saturn Awards. They have given acting awards for three voice actors: Robin Williams
and Scott Weinger for Aladdin (Best Supporting Actor and Best Younger Actor, respectively) and
Ellen DeGeneres for Finding Nemo (Best Supporting Actress). They also nominated Jonathan
Taylor Thomas for The Lion King and Mitchel Musso for Monster House (both Best Younger
Actor). Not only do the Saturn Awards treat genre movies with more respect than the Oscars,
they also treat animated movies with more respect.
The Saturn Awards provide a much-needed service to the film industry, by recognizing
the achievements of genre films, which are beloved by the movie-going audiences and keep the
motion pictures industry financially healthy. My solution to the problem of giving too much
focus to the Oscars, which recognize films that most people don't see, and not enough to the

Saturns, is to start broadcasting the Saturns award ceremony, but in a completely different format
that would be highly entertaining and engaging to the movie-loving public. Maybe they could
start with a webcast, with heavier use of film excerpts and more behind-the-scenes discussions
about the decision making for different aspects of the film. Most movie-goers enjoy the "behind
the scenes" look at their favorite films. This would raise awareness of the Saturn awards without
copying the format of the Academy awards, and begin to gain more respect for the Saturn
awards.
The Academy Awards and The Saturn Awards are in an unfair rivalry with each other.
One is clearly winning and doesnt know the other even exists, while the one has no chance of
being as powerful as the other. This does not mean the smaller, less strong of the two is any less
important. The Academy Awards is a showcase for the very best in the motion pictures that came
out each year, ultimately declaring one to reign over all the others, until the title is given to
another victor the year after. The Saturn Awards are the same thing, only for a type of film that
often gets ignored or belittled by the snobs and critics. In the end, the Saturn Awards need to be
more well known and respected because they provide a greater service to the world by giving
those kinds of films that people love and watch the same clout and honor that the Academy
Awards gives to The Hurt Locker and Schindlers List.

Works Cited:

"Academy Story" and "Official Academy Awards Database." Oscars.org. Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences. Web. 20 May 2015.

Campbell, Richard, Media Essentials: A Brief Introduction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's,

2012. Print.

"History of the Saturn Awards," Saturnawards.org, The Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy and
Horror Films. Web. 20 May 2015.

"List of Highest Grossing Films," Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 20 May 2015.

"Rotten Tomatoes Movie Search." RottenTomatoes. Flixster (a division of Warner Brothers).

Web. 20 May 2015.

Schneider, Steven Jay, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. Hauppage New York:
Barron's. 2013 (updated). Print.

Thompson, Kristin and Bordwell, David, Film History: An Introduction. New York: McGrawHill, 2010. Print.