- A look at the influence of awards on people’s book and film choices
The beginning of 2025 marked the start of awards season in Hollywood, with the 82nd Golden Globe Awards presented on 5 January. However, the fires affecting Los Angeles have resulted in a delay in announcements and ceremonies that were to follow, such as the Academy Awards nominations.
Despite this, cinephiles can look forward to the 78th British Academy Film Awards on 16 February and the Oscars on 3 March, as well as film awards presented by local organisations.
In the literary world, submissions for the Gratiaen Prize and the H.A.I. Goonetileke Prize for Translations closed on 31 December 2024, with announcements to follow. The State Literary Prize and Swarna Pusthaka Award are other local events to be held this year, with international literary prizes including the Pulitzer Prizes, the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Booker Prize, and the International Booker Prize.
While these ceremonies are often nights of glitz and glamour, with the winners celebrated and spotlighted, there is a question of if these awards, whether literary or film, really matter.
Are awards solely for the recognition of excellence in the relevant industry or do they actually influence what we read or watch? In 2024, National Research Group found that only 38% of consumers felt awards shows, such as the Grammys, Academy Awards, and the Golden Globes, prompted them to watch content they otherwise wouldn’t have come across, while just 31% said they typically check what awards a movie won or was nominated for before deciding whether to watch it.
The study found that 65% of consumers agreed that awards shows were an important tool for recognising and honouring artistic achievements within the film and TV industry, meaning that today, people saw awards shows not as a ‘stamp of industry approval’ but as an opportunity to celebrate talent.
To understand more about the significance or relevance of awards events, The Daily Morning Brunch spoke to a few individuals, who shared their thoughts on literary and film awards and if they influenced their book or movie choices.
A good selling point
Amila Muthukutti shared that he pays attention to annual award ceremonies for both books and movies that are held locally. When it comes to foreign content, his interest is mostly in movies.
When asked if he has watched or read something because they were nominated for an award or were named a winner, Muthukutti said he has, but added: “Whether they are deserving of the award is debatable.” He explained that in some years, the nominations capture significant movies both locally and internationally.
“In the local context, I usually pay more attention to Sinhala books that receive awards. Just a few titles like Norbert Ayagamage’s ‘Kaala Nadee Gala Basi’ and ‘Kura Handeki Wiyakena’ or Mahinda Prasad Masimbula’s ‘Senkottan’ are very good examples and well-deserving of awards considering the research they’ve put into them, the language, and the plot, all together. But I can’t really say the same for some of the other award-winning or nominated books.”
Muthukutti added that he had a similar experience with movies. “Some highly praised, award-winning Sinhala or foreign language movies sometimes don’t make sense to me at all,” he said.
He went on to say that he believed the selection process of both local and foreign awards could be biased. “The selection process doesn’t always seem reliable, looking at the pattern or the nominated books. Sometimes, I have come across major grammatical mistakes in books selected for awards. I sometimes wonder if these things matter at all. However, since it’s the opinion of a panel of people, I think it will depend on their personal biases and beliefs.”
Whether reliable or not, this recognition is a very good selling point, Muthukutti said, explaining that he thus made sure to not stick to award-winning books or movies only. “Sometimes, comments and reviews on social media by random people are more reliable than the awards. One very recent example is the Malayalam movie ‘Kishkindha Kaandam’. I watched it purely based on the fan comments, and it did not fail me,” he added.
To buy or not to buy?
Sharing her thoughts with us, Hannah Samuel* said she doesn’t pay attention to annual awards ceremonies for books or movies, whether they were local or foreign. Despite this, she has read books and watched movies because of the awards they have won, although she pointed out that winning an award wasn’t the sole reason she would read a book or watch a movie.
Since her interest lies mostly in books, Samuel cited examples from the literary world. “I had never read ‘Chats with the Dead’ but I bought a copy of ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ after I heard that Shehan Karunatilaka won the Booker Prize for it.”
Samuel explained that with books, knowing a title has won an award helps her decide whether to buy it or not, but this is only when she finds herself on the fence about it. Thus, although not the only reason behind a book purchase, it can help her make a decision she has been debating about.
An award is less likely to influence her decision to watch a movie, Samuel said.
In terms of award winners deserving the recognition they have received, Samuel said she had found it to not be the case all the time, but pointed out that this could be due to her personal taste. “Take ‘Brotherless Night’ for example. I came across the book when I was in India well before it won any awards. But I absolutely enjoyed the book and think it deserves the recognition it received,” she said.
A change in interest
Chathurika Liyanarathna* pays attention to both literary and film awards for entertainment purposes and also to stay updated for work, pointing out that it was helpful to be informed. “However, I’d say I’ve recently lost interest in local awards,” she said.
When asked if she has read or watched something because they were nominated for or won an award, Liyanarathna said she has, especially with movies and TV shows. “I try to watch them if they haven’t already caught my attention. As a young adult, I used to pay a lot of attention to award-winning productions and books. But now, in my mid-30s, I’m more interested in the plots and recommendations from friends.”
Liyanarathna added: “Based on what we watched last year, it was quite disheartening to see some high-quality productions not even nominated for the Academy Awards. And some of the nominated ones weren’t particularly interesting.”
However, she said she felt it was unfair to say the winners were not deserving of an award, considering the Academy Award-winning movies of the last decade or so, but that it depended on the production.
On the topic of bias and reliability of the selection process, Liyanarathna said she didn’t know for sure, but that it didn’t feel reliable. “This is one reason why award-winning movies aren’t a top priority on my watchlist. Awards are good for selling books, but reading or watching things solely based on awards would make me miss out on a lot,” she said.
Liyanarathna added: “Selection processes are never free from biases, whether foreign or local. Knowing the local context, it’s very difficult for me to say I trust the process. But this must be the same for foreign awards as well.”
Larger judging pools to reduce bias
A.J. Wimaladasa said he mainly watches international film and television award shows, along with a few literary awards, such as the Hugo, Nebula, FT, and Pulitzer, and that he has based his choice of book or movie based on an award it won or was nominated for.
When asked if he thought the book or movie was deserving of the award, he said he did, more so on the literature front. When it came to movies and TV shows, he agreed with some, but disagreed with others.
He felt the selection process was likely to be biased as it would be assessing qualitative work. “I think such biases can be reduced (never completely removed) by having larger judging pools across different demographics, and maybe making the judging process more transparent,” Wimaladasa added.
Another individual, Yasith De Zoysa, shared with The Daily Morning Brunch that while he didn’t watch award ceremonies, he does usually stay updated and read about them. He has also watched movies because they were nominated for an award or won an award, and felt they were deserving of the recognition.
*Names have been changed to protect the identities of the individuals