I use “Oscar-bait” in quotes because books cannot win Oscars. In your opinion, ate there a slew of recent fiction titles that seem to go out of their way to win awards, usually by tackling relevant social and political themes. Though I’ve not read an award-winning book in a while, I’ve read the synopses of many nominees of many awards, and notice that during the couple decades or so, most of them tackle racism, misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, fascism, colorism, microaggressions, the male gaze, industrialism, corporatism, capitalism, and climate change, seemingly always from leftist or left-leaning points of view, and at least character represents one or more marginalized groups.
To be clear, I actually agree with leftist viewpoints on all the above topics- for instance, I think that good representation of minorities in fiction matters. I also don’t doubt that many of these books deserve their nominations and award wins. However, given how many books have been nominated for awards this century, I can’t help but imagine that at least some of these novels are cynically presenting themselves as socially conscious in order to win favor with critics, audiences, and the voter bases of the Nobel, Pulitzer, and Booker Awards.
In your opinion, is there a recent epidemic of “Oscar-bait” novels?
by CobaltCrusader123
1 Comment
Yeah, there is.
In no other point in history has there been novels that tackle social and political themes.
This is a completely new phenomenon. I personally liked gold ole’ non socially aware books, like Crime and Punishment and War and Piece.