James Cameron thinks the Oscars are biased against blockbuster films.
The 62-year-old director has helmed some of the most profitable movies in history, including ‘Titanic’, but has suggested there is a certain snobbishness attached to the Academy Awards.
James said: "There have been a few times throughout the history of the Oscars where a wildly popular film was well-received, but your typical year the Academy takes the position of: ‘It is our patrician duty to tell the great unwashed what they should be watching,’ and they don’t reward the films that people really want to see – that they’re paying money to go see – and they’re telling them, ‘Yeah, you think you like that, but what you should be liking is this.’
"And as long as the Academy sees that as their duty, don’t expect high ratings. Expect a good show, and do that duty, but don’t whine about your ratings."
James admitted ‘Titanic’ – which earned him Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing – was one notable exception to his theory.
He told the Daily Beast: "’Titanic’ was a very unusual case. I’m not saying it’s a better film than films before or after, or it was necessarily a better year in general, but it was a film that made a boatload of money and got a lot of nominations."
He said, too, that interest in the Oscars would increase if the Academy was more willing to embrace more mainstream movies, as it did with ‘Titanic’, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
He explained: "The next time we see that, we’ll see ratings go up. It’s that simple."
James Cameron: The Oscars are biased against blockbuster movies
