The Oscars have always been fundamentally silly, but 10 years ago they were still a major event. Celebrities still lectured people in their annoying, self-congratulatory way, but they had more cultural capital. People listened when they spoke, and that slightly restrained their sanctimoniousness. Now they are just howling into cyberspace, ever more desperate to be heard.
Industry bores will tell you that the audience viewing figures were up last year: 29.6 million viewers and, yes, ABC sold their precious advertising spots for lots of money. But on Sunday night, they only got 23. 6 million: in 2000, the audience was 44.6 million, and 41 million in 2010, so the pattern is one of decline.
The internet has killed the Hollywood star. Fame has been disrupted. Andy Warhol got it slightly wrong when he said that in the future, everybody will be famous for 15 minutes. In fact, thanks to social media, everybody is famous to at least 15 people. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook mean we don’t have to ogle stars anymore; we are too busy ogling ourselves. Yes, different types of celebrities have grown online: the influencers, the YouTubers, the streamers, and they too will try to use their position to grandstand. But the age of celebrity, of mass entertainers mattering as anything other than entertainment, is dying. It won’t be missed.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member