Being a recipient of a best picture Oscar is one of the best accolades a filmmaker can win. If you are a winner of a best picture for a horror film, however, you are one of the most elite classes of filmmakers.—one of two in fact, and the odds are highly against you.     

Drama films have been dominating the Oscars since the start and if genre films are nominated, they usually have some sort of real world importance like inclusion or sickness. While drama is important for films, there have been thousands of genre films that deserve the award as well, so why are the Oscars so reluctant to nominate genre films? 

The Oscars are there to award the best of the film world, and in my opinion, not all of them are drama. Drama is important to tell raw stories,but the same can be said about comedies, westerns and thrillers. They just aren’t getting the limelight they so deserve. 

Movies like The Shape of Water are glaring examples of non-drama movies that can still be engaging and Oscar-worthy. It’s strange and uncomfortable but moving all at the same time. 

These films are being overlooked by the Oscars committee and, frankly, it’s suffocating creativity and while there are the occasional standouts like Shape of Water, these exceptions are not sufficient enough.

Last year, there weren’t as many talked about dramas as there were horror films, and yet, only a few of those aforementioned horror films were recognized, most of them being Nosferatu for costume design and special effects. Movies like Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs, which received plenty of praise, were just left out from the running even though it was engaging and an original, unlike Nosferatu. 

If The Oscars want to accurately portray and represent all films, they have to start looking beyond their narrow drama bubble.