It’s February 2022, which means, in a world where COVID actually only lasted for two weeks (like my AP Lit teacher said it would), it would be awards show month right now. But, alas, that is not the case. February is far from being this year’s awards month — the 2022 Academy Awards nominees haven’t even been announced yet —and the Grammys have been pushed to April.
It’s sort of upsetting, sure, but of all the things that COVID has thrown out of whack, awards season is definitely not a top priority. Although award shows really only impact a small percentage of the population, the shows’ producers seemingly believe their product is so important that it should take precedence over the pandemic.
Let’s look at the 2021 Oscars. The 93rd Oscars award show was pushed from its usually late February time spot to late April because of the pandemic. The organizers also implemented testing protocols and limited the number of attendees, but while in the theater, mask-wearing was not really enforced.
While the rest of the country was still expected to abide by state policies and mask-wearing rules, the Hollywood elite was free of all COVID cares for the night. And sure, maybe we all would love that for ourselves, but the privilege that was on display in preparing for the show and at the Oscars was nasty.
One of the producers, Steven Soderbergh, was quoted as saying, “It’s the f—ing Oscars. It’s not a webinar.” Well, Mr. Soderbergh, I raise you, “It’s my f—ing expensive college education. It’s not a webinar.” Still, to you, a glitzy show mainly for rich people is far too important to resort to what every other institution has had to do to combat this pandemic.
My problems with the 2021 Oscars don’t even stop there. We all know the film industry was hit hard by the pandemic, but the people who were hurt the most weren’t high-profile celebrities; it’s crews that work to make every layer of a movie or tv show.
At least 120,000 people in the film industry in Hollywood have lost their jobs since the start of the pandemic. Yes, a strong return for the film industry is excellent; an award show that recognizes the face of the movies instead of those hurt the most seems horrible.
So, that was 2021. It’s 2022 now, and we are dealing with the most contagious wave of the pandemic yet — Omicron. Vaccination rates across the country are high, but that hasn’t stopped the U.S. from seeing around 690,000 new cases a day. Because of the new variant, many cities have begun implementing vaccine requirements for indoor gatherings and dining. How will the Oscars react this year?
Well, we don’t have many details about COVID-related rules for this year’s Oscars. We know that for the first time in three years, there will be a host and that the show will return to its home in Dolby Theater instead of Union Station, where it was held in 2021. The show is slated for March 27, and film producer Will Packer is in charge of the production for the show. Baring state policies, it’ll be up to him and director Glenn Weiss to decide how the 94th Academy Awards tackle the presence of the ongoing pandemic.
If I were to guess, at the very least, the show would have some type of vaccine mandate. We have already seen this in award shows like the Country Music Awards and The Emmys. Aside from that, it feels unlikely that the Oscars will impose a mask mandate considering they didn’t the previous year.
Even though Omicron is very contagious and people who are vaccinated and boosted can still contract the virus, people are less worried about getting sick because this strain seems not to be as deadly. That shouldn’t be a reason to completely dismiss the importance of wearing masking, mainly because it is still contagious. At the end of the day, many people who don’t show any symptoms could infect immunocompromised people.
Listen, I want this pandemic to be over, and I wish to never have to wear a mask again. Still, I also want to see hospital nurses and doctors working “normal” shifts again, and public school students having access to safe and healthy education before an entertainment industry award show returns to its former glamour state.
