| 0s | This year a grand technicolor film about showbiz is a favorite for best picture at the Oscars. |
| 6s | Yes, it was well regarded amongst critics and audiences around the country. |
| 10s | But is La La Land hands down the best film of the year? |
| 15s | Is it good enough to beat out films like Moonlight that are widely considered more daring and |
| 21s | |
| 22s | |
| 23s | Because the oscar voting process favors mediocrity. |
| 29s | Back in 2009 the the Academy switched from a straight popular vote to instant runoff |
| 33s | voting or preferential voting. |
| 36s | The Academy wanted to better insure that the film with the broadest support won. |
| 41s | But the other side of that coin is that bold, polarizing films get pushed to the side. |
| 47s | At its most basic level, instant runoff voting involves ranking a number of choices rather |
| 52s | |
| 54s | Then the choice with the fewest votes is removed. |
| 56s | And then those who voted for that candidate have their votes counted according to their |
| 60s | second-favorite candidate. |
| 62s | Then the candidate that now has the fewest votes is removed, and so on. |
| 65s | It goes all the way until a candidate has 50% + 1 of the vote. |
| 70s | This applies to both the nominations process (although that does get a little weedy) and |
| 75s | the process of selecting a best picture winner. |
| 77s | So, how would instant runoff voting ultimately play out in a real scenario? |
| 82s | Let’s look at 2011 where the King’s Speech beat out: 127 hours, The Fighter, Black Swan, |
| 87s | Winter's Bone, True Grit, Inception, The Social Network, and The Kids are Alright. |
| 93s | All these films were probably 1st place picks on a lot of ballots and dead last on others. |
| 97s | It’s very possible that the passionate fan bases of each of these films all had the King’s |
| 103s | speech ranked 2nd or 3rd. |
| 104s | When their 1st place vote wasn’t enough to stay in the game their 2nd place votes |
| 108s | were counted and re-added to the mix, ultimately allowing The King’s Speech to come from |
| 113s | |
| 114s | Because the King’s Speech had the broadest support rather than the most passionate support, |
| 118s | |
| 122s | The new voting system seems to favor a certain type of film. |
| 125s | Todd: We’ve had instant runoff voting for 6 years and fully half of those films have |
| 131s | been movies about the movies. |
| 132s | And I’d count the King’s Speech as being adjacent to that. |
| 137s | It’s a film about performance and elocution. |
| 142s | Think Birdman, Argo, The Artist. |
| 144s | The Academy is made of 6000 film industry professionals who probably enjoy movies about |
| 151s | |
| 152s | They might not rank a film about showbiz as number 1 but many might place it 2nd or third |
| 158s | which is precisely where it's most dangerous. |
| 161s | In 2005 before instant runoff voting was instituted, Crash, won best picture. |
| 165s | It’s a film people either despise or love. |
| 166s | Todd: Crash is the worst best picture of all time but there are people out there who really |
| 174s | |
| 175s | I think we really want those movies that inspire those extreme reactions one way or another. |
| 182s | Sometimes the movie wins that you hate and sometimes the movie that you love. |
| 186s | I’d rather see that than the movie that everyone was kind of okay with. |
| 190s | In fact, Crash beat out a film that might have easily have won in today's instant runoff |
| 194s | system: A period film about entertainment (the radio industry) directed by Hollywood |
| 198s | royalty, George Clooney: Goodnight, and Good Luck. |
