“The Oscar race has become an annual embarrassment. The self-absorption in this half-year spectacle could choke Thanos himself. We need to stop talking about ourselves and start looking for new stories, new ways to entertain the world. Taken properly, the #MeToo and representational questions offer us ways to do that. But they can also become fixations about themselves, a chance for us to squabble endlessly about our own problems and divisions until those squabbles drown out the mission we’re here for.

“Imagine if people turned on the Super Bowl and were told that instead of a football game, we’re going to have a televised debate about kneeling during the national anthem. That’s what the Oscars have become, what Hollywood is becoming.” — also from the latest Ankler edition, written by Richard Rushfield.