I have been collecting statements and quotes about the Oscar Award and the Oscar show ever since I wrote what I believe to be the first serious book about the Academy Awards, first published in 1986 as And the Winner Is: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards and now in it its 11th edition as All About Oscar.
Here is what Martin Scorsese, who finally won Best Director Oscar at his sixth nomination, said……
The Academy award is the Nobel Prize of motion pictures.
Leroy Johnston
Nothing denotes success so visibly and tangibly as the Oscars.
British journalist
The Oscar is the most particular of American phenomenon
Vincent Canby, NY Times film critic
Aside from the campaign for President, the Oscar derby is America’s most contentious horse race.
Richard Corliss, film critic
When people see the label Academy Award Winner, they go to see that movie.
Martin Scorsese, Oscar nominee
The Oscar show is Hollywood’s orgy of self‑congratulation.
Anonymous executive
In the mythology of the cinema, the Oscar is the supreme prize.
Federico Fellini
The Oscars are classic American Kitsch
Lily Tomlin, Oscar nominee
The Oscar is as valid as any award around
Jack Nicholson, three-times Oscar winner
When I was a young boy, the two seminal television events in my family were the World Series and the Academy Awards.
Harvey Weinstein, WC and former Miramax co-president
As the aforementioned quotes suggest, the Oscar Award and the Oscar telecast continue to fulfill various functions and to convey different meanings in American pop culture.
