For years now, major awards shows like the Oscars, the Emmys, and the Golden Globes have had a reputation for showing a preference towards more highbrow, artsy dramas over more popular genre fiction. Sci-fi, fantasy, and superhero movies tend to be relegated to technical awards, while the major awards are swept by more down-to-earth works with less mainstream appeal.
This isn’t a universal rule, of course: occasionally, a genre film will break the mold and receive major awards season attention.Black PantherandMad Max: Fury Roadwere both nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture, and even managed to win a few as well. And of course,director Guillermo Del Toro’sThe Shape of Watermanaged to pull a major upset in 2018 by winning the Academy Award for Best Picture, making it only the second fantasy film in Oscars history to do so — afterThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, of course.
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While this year’s Oscars didn’t feature any major nominations for genre films, the upcoming Emmy Awards tell a very different story. Fantasy and sci-fi series likeThe Mandalorian, WandaVision, andLovecraft Countryare all nominated for several major awards, withThe BoysandThe Falcon and the Winter Soldierbeing represented as well. EvenThe Handmaid’s Tale, another prominent nominee, qualifies as a genre series due toits dystopian future setting.Not only are genre series represented at this year’s Emmys, they’re leading the pack.
While the Emmys have historically been friendlier to genre fiction than the Oscars — just look atGame of Throneswith its 160 nominations and 59 wins — there’s still a popular notion of what “prestige TV” looks like, even in the streaming age. Shows likeThe Sopranos,Mad Men, and of courseBreaking Badall redefined what TV was capable of in the 2000s, pushing boundaries with their complex characters and gritty drama. But in 2021, the Emmy nomination list is dominated not by crime lords and shady businessmen, but superheroesand spacefaring bounty hunters.
Clearly, this isn’t a case of more traditional TV dramas dying out in the 2020s: the presence of shows likeThe Crown,Bridgerton, andPosein the list of nominees proves that much. Rather, it’s more likely that the shift comes from which shows are now pushing boundaries. These days, realistic drama series are nothing new, while it’s big-budget genre series that are providing unique TV experiences.The Mandalorianbrings movie-level special effects to the small screen, recapturing the magic of the originalStar Warswith its episodic adventure story.WandaVisionexperiments with genre, creating a never before-seen blend of sitcom, horror, mystery, and superhero storytelling that still manages to have a compelling emotional core. Meanwhile,The Boyshas gained plenty of attention for how it combines hard-hitting satire of celebrity culture and modern politics with shocking, over-the-top violence.
Moreover, many of the genre shows nominated for the 2021 Emmys have another common thread: ambitious storytelling. In particular,The MandalorianandWandaVisionmanage to stand out from recent films in their respective franchises due to how they handle their stories differently. The MCU andStar Warsare both frequentlycriticized for being too formulaic,relying on the same tropes over and over again without trying anything new.
The extent to which these complaints are accurate is debatable — and it has indeed been hotly debated by fans for years now — but it’s impossible to deny thatWandaVisionandTheMandalorianare trying something new. Not only do they bring added worldbuilding and a fresh new story structure to their own universes, they do so in a way that still allows for the characters to feel real and nuanced. Not only do these shows have a compelling plot, they allowactors like Elizabeth Olsen,Paul Bettany, Pedro Pascal, and Giancarlo Esposito to flex their acting talent in a way that the limited run time of an action-adventure movie might not allow.
With this, it’s easy to see a common thread between the 2021 Emmy nominees and other works of genre fiction that have received major awards attention.Mad Max: Fury Roadwas the rare action movie that managed to balance thrilling, stylish fight scenes with nuanced characters, engaging themes, and detailed worldbuilding.The Shape of Waterisn’t just an homage to classic monster movies, it’s a love story in which a group of outsiders find companionship and belonging with each other, allowing them to band together against the oppressive establishment trying to control them.
In regards to superhero movies, both Heath Ledger andJoaquin Phoenix won Oscarsportraying the Joker, bringing a level of intensity to the role that’s rarely seen in supervillain performances.Black Pantherdidn’t just bring some much-needed diversity into mainstream cinema, it did so with plenty of compelling characters brought to life by an all-star cast.
And of course,Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Versetook home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature thanks to its heartfelt story, lovable characters, and one-of-a-kind aesthetic. Over the past few years, the genre films and TV shows that have gotten recognition at major awards shows have been the ones that tried something new, challenging the common notion of what their genre was capable of. And with theirnewfound focus on TV,it seems thatStar Warsand the MCU have done just that, earning them no shortage of Emmy nominations. There’s certainly an argument to be had about whether these awards shows even matter at all — but as long as they exist, fans probably won’t complain about their favorite shows and movies getting nominated for a change.
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