I've watched the Oscar Best Picture winners for the past 15 years, and I think the Academy's picks have become increasingly out of touch with what general audiences actually enjoy. Between 2010 and 2024, the average box office gross of Best Picture winners was around $200 million, but many recent winners like CODA and Moonlight barely cracked $10 million domestically. The Academy seems to reward small, artsy films that few people see, yet we keep treating these choices as the definitive 'best' of cinema. Shouldn't the most prestigious film award reflect a balance between artistic merit and popular appeal, or is it okay for the Oscars to remain a niche, critic-driven institution? I'm genuinely torn, but I lean no—the ceremony's declining ratings suggest audiences are losing interest in winners they've never heard of, and that can't be healthy for the industry in the long run.