Editing Academy Awards (section)

=== Accusations of bias ===
{{further|Oscar bait}}

Typical criticism of the Academy Awards for Best Picture is that among the winners and nominees there is an over-representation of romantic historical epics, biographical dramas, romantic dramedies and family melodramas, most of which are released in the U.S. in the last three months of the calendar year. The Oscars have been infamously known for selecting specific genres of films to be awarded. The term "[[Oscar bait]]" was coined to describe such films. This has led, at times, to more specific criticisms that the Academy is disconnected from the audience, e.g., by favoring "Oscar bait" over audience favorites or favoring historical melodramas over critically acclaimed films that depict current life issues.<ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Kyle |title=Have the Oscars jumped the shark? |work=New York Post |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/movies/have_the_oscars_jumped_the_shark_LLhBrvPY35EnSH0iQzrqRJ |access-date=January 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418115808/http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/movies/have_the_oscars_jumped_the_shark_LLhBrvPY35EnSH0iQzrqRJ |archive-date=April 18, 2012}}</ref>

Despite the success of ''[[The Dark Knight]]'', the film did not receive a [[Best Picture]] nomination at the [[81st Academy Awards]]. This decision received substantial criticism and was described as a "snub" by many publications.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Child |first=Ben |date=January 28, 2009 |title=The week in geek: The Dark Knight's Oscars snub is a disgrace |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2009/jan/28/oscars-sciencefictionandfantasy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241204144754/https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2009/jan/28/oscars-sciencefictionandfantasy |archive-date=December 4, 2024 |access-date=December 1, 2023 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Wallace |first=Lewis |title=Why So Serious? Oscars Snub Dark Knight for Top Awards |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2009/01/why-so-serious/ |access-date=December 1, 2023 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref><ref name="Sims">{{Cite web |last=Sims |first=David |date=July 18, 2018 |title='The Dark Knight' Changed Hollywood Movies Forever |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/07/the-dark-knight-legitimized-the-superhero-movie-for-better-and-worse/565448/ |access-date=December 1, 2023 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref> The backlash to the decision was such that, for the [[82nd Academy Awards]] awards in 2010, the Academy increased the limit for Best Picture nominees from five to ten, a change known as "The Dark Knight Rule".<ref name="Sims"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tapley |first=Kristopher |date=July 17, 2018 |title=Christopher Nolan's 'Dark Knight' Changed Movies, and the Oscars, Forever |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/in-contention/dark-knight-changed-movies-christopher-nolan-1202874041/ |access-date=December 1, 2023 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lang |first=Brent |date=February 21, 2017 |title=How Much Has Changed Since Oscar Expanded Best Picture Nominations? |url=https://variety.com/2017/film/awards/oscar-best-picture-expansion-analysis-1201992206/ |access-date=December 1, 2023 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Cieply |first1=Michael |date=July 17, 2013 |title=Motion Picture Academy Expands the Best-Picture Pool to 10 Nominees |work=The New York Times |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/movies/25oscars.html |access-date=December 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130717165526/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/movies/25oscars.html |archive-date=July 17, 2013}}</ref>