Why the Oscars have become more important even as viewership has shrunk

Quite a few people were unhappy with a column I wrote in which I suggested that the film academy's recent decision to present Oscars in four categories during the commercial break was not a cataclysmic crime against cinema.

Those who were not busy signing their names to letters calling for the academy to reverse its decision, which it eventually did, wrote me, many protesting that in their zeal to improve telecast ratings the Oscars producers had lost sight of its purpose. (Which, according to several readers, is to educate audiences about how films are made. Who knew?)

This is patently absurd: If handing out