The AP story recounting last night’s Oscar ceremony goes right to the heart of why the Academy Awards no longer matter the industry has become so insular, complacent, and distant from its audience that it regularly nominates for award mostly movies that hardly anyone has seen.

The AP story mentions only the Best Picture nominations in this regard, and does so only at the end of the article, a destination to which few people will persevere, but this fact is, if anything, even more true of the other major awards, for performances, directing, screenwriting, etc. The message to the audience: we’re smarter and better than you. AP writes,

Collectively, the five best-picture nominees had drawn a total domestic theatrical audience of about 38.5 million people, about a third the number of fans who have gone to see the contenders in recent peak years when such blockbusters as "Gladiator" or "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" have won.

The day when Hollywood and its audiences largely agreed on what is good is long gone. Hollywood is still humming along because it continues to make audience-pleasing films while its best and brightest talents fool about with their arrogant, condescending, leftist, elitist agenda. The Academy Awards, however, show us where their heart really is—and if it remains so, further box office declines are inevitable.

The lesson is that even if you’re a glamorous, privileged, envied, powerful multimillionaire, you’d better remember whom you work for—or you’ll get kicked out just like anybody else.