Unpopular Idea

Strategy to boost TV ratings by adding new category stirs controversy

The Academy is dealing with fallout after its announcement of a new popular film category

LAST WEEK’S ANNOUNCEMENT by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences instituting a new Oscars category for “outstanding achievement in popular film” was met with a swift backlash and mockery on social media.

“Seriously, this ‘best pop movie’ category is the worst idea the Academy has had since they asked me to sing with Snow White,” tweeted actor Rob Lowe, whose embarrassing appearance alongside the first Disney princess at the 1989 ceremony was launched into infamy. Other naysayers ranged from former Oscars producer Craig Zadan to ex-focus Features honcho James Schamus.

But at least one major star appreciated the gesture. “Maybe if they’d had the category before, we’d have won a couple of them,” Mark Wahlberg told Variety. “We’ve had some really commercially successful films that we think certainly warranted that kind of notoriety.” Some of Wahlberg’s recent hits include “Ted,”“lone Survivor” and “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” which has a meager 18% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Insiders complain that the strategy could disastrously evolve the Oscars into something akin to the MTV Movie & TV Awards. The Academy arrived at the decision after intense lobbying by ABC, the network that airs the ceremony, to stage a more popular telecast. The move will undeniably benefit the $1.3 billion global juggernaut “Black