On Monday, Time film critic Richard Corliss complained about the fact that critics groups give out year-end awards to films that aren’t popular. As part of his argument he points out that the best TV ratings for the Oscar telecasts are when one popular film is expected to sweep. Does the film industry really care what the ratings are for the Oscar telecast? Is a glitzy TV special the main reason people work their butts off making movies? The Oscars were, are, and always will be little more than an industry award. If the National Plumbers Association had a plumber of the year award, and a big banquet where they let the winner give a speech, this would not be telecast because nobody outside that proud and honorable craft would care. The Oscars existed before television, and they would continue to happen if the networks made the insane decision to stop broadcasting it.

Art and popularity are not mutually exclusive. The best movies combine art and accessibility. The Godfather and The Silence of the Lambs, both Best Picture winners and box office giants, are peerless genre movies that utilize craftsman working at the top of their game in order to share a story about themes that run deep into the American psyche. However, that level of achievement is exceedingly rare. The studios spend 12 months a year guessing what will be popular – because that’s what they put into production – so it stands to reason that the award they give each other should go to the film they generally feel was the “best.” So when there is not one film that everyone can point to, it only makes sense that that Academy members, as well as critics, would fall back on films that are more arty than popular – if such a distinction must be made. So Mr. Corliss can complain all he wants that Away From Her, No Country for Old Men, and There Will Be Blood haven’t or won’t set the box office on fire, but I would bet the majority, certainly not all but the majority, of people who make movies for a living – and I mean the people who actually work on their creation not just the money men – would rather have made any of those films than Transformers or the third Pirates movie.

The Academy Awards are all about the studios patting themselves on the back. It’s a good and healthy thing that at their annual love-in they recognize the people who really did try something different, or grand, or original, or heartfelt. The box office is the reward for those who figured out what people wanted to see. Industry awards often do and always should go to those that remind everybody in the business why they care about movies in the first place.