In the view of Daily Beast contributor Marlow Stern, AMPAS “should do the right thing and honor The Social Network over The King’s Speech with the Best Picture Oscar, lest they risk further alienating the younger generation of movie fans who have caught on to the Oscars’ blandness and predictability. This lack of imagination is one of the reasons why TV ratings for Hollywood’s biggest night have dropped precipitously from a high of 57.25 million viewers in 1998 — the year Titanic cleaned up at the awards — to just 41.3 million in 2010, despite nominating 10 films for the Best Picture Oscar instead of five.”
