My observation, as the years go by, is that I haven’t even heard of most movies and actors/actresses nominated for Oscars.
There seems to be a tendency to nominate obscure movies which while they may be celebrated by the “in” crowd in Hollywood, many of us aren’t even aware of who these people are and what the movies are about.
I think I’m not the only one, when you see the Oscar TV ratings dropping off. How many people want to sit through a four hour awards show, to see which movie or actor you aren’t familiar with, beat out another movie or actor you aren’t aware of, to win a statuette?
Neither have I. And if I pick up a copy of People magazine in an office or somewhere, I have no idea who these people are. The same is true of most of the "celebrities" whose photos are on Daily Mail.