As we submerge ourselves deeper into this year’s award season, I can’t help but notice how many conversations about this year’s nominations in film and television have revolved around predictability and unspoken codes of typicality within award categories. Specifically when it comes to the upcoming Academy Awards, where film critics’ and journalists’ predictions appear to be based more than ever upon the secret, golden ‘Oscars Code.’ But, where did we get these ideas from, and to what extent have they perpetuated an unhelpful narrative?
Is there even a point to separating award winners by gender? Surely in 2026 we shouldn’t judge performance differently by such a metric. Conversations about non-conforming and non-traditional gender identities have posed some difficulties when separating the categories for awards. Bella Ramsey, a non-binary actor who has previously been nominated for awards as a female performer, recently spoke to Louis Theroux on his podcast and expressed that they see both sides of this argument but that ultimately they don’t have an answer of how non-binary could be included without removing the diversity of recognition, as separate categories is what allows a bigger range of performances to be recognised in the first place. Furthermore, categories aside from acting – such as directing and screenwriting – are typically non-gendered, and as of right now dominated by men, suggesting that universifying the performance categories will actually snub and erase female and non-binary talent. Maybe it isn’t entirely the fault of how the categories are designed but a lack of diversity in general. Still, I think the main issues within the separation is that it allows for unnecessary bias which exists purely because of the gendered nature of these categories.
There seems to be an unspoken rule among Academy Voters of never awarding Best Lead Actor awards to any male actors over 40. This pattern has been brought up more than ever this year as freshly 30-years-old Timothée Chalamet is expected to win against a group of seasoned “legacy” names. I certainly take issue with the Oscars’ policy of “legacy” actors. Leonardo DiCaprio is the most brought up example of this as the story of the actor “waiting his turn” for his Academy Award has brought many years of marketable entertainment. The narrative around female actors swings in the polar opposite direction. It feels like a rehashing of the argument of women having their “golden years” before the age of 40, or let’s put it plainly, the ancient, blood-curdling “biological clock” comment.
Are we opening the conversation or just creating new conversations around the same few white men?
Now, I’m definitely not saying that the Academy gives Best Acting Awards to the most fertile actresses; what I am saying is that there seems to be a bias towards actresses in early career stages, and a reward for youth, while the same ideas act as a disservice towards the male performers. It is an even wider issue when we consider that older women have less opportunities in starring roles, the split of nominations being a direct reflection of cultural ideals. Why do men get the privilege of aging into their careers while women get a strict deadline? We have luckily seen a gradual shift with past winners, and even this year’s nominations, however it still begs me to ask – why have a women’s category if women are not well-represented within it?
There is an issue with award categories, not because of categorisation itself, but because the current landscape of the industry does not allow fairness. We can agree that despite attempts and arguments to diversify award categories structurally, we are still not seeing enough representation of talent from marginalised communities, no matter who they are up against. So, when changing the system to allow for equality, who is it actually creating equality for? Are we opening the conversation or just creating new conversations around the same few white men? The structural change is not enough when it falls short in diversifying the list of nominees itself, and the change needs to happen internally within the categories too.
Photo by Hunter Scott on Unsplash.