Every year more than 25 million people crowd around their TV to watch the prestigious Oscars. The Oscars are full of surprise, awe and sometimes a little confusion. The movies that it seems every American has seen, such as Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Beauty and the Beast, never even made an appearance.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi has grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide, putting it at No. 9 on the list of top grossing movies in history. Beauty and the Beast is in the same boat, earning over $1.2 billion worldwide. The box office sales and rating of these movies prove, without a doubt, that the world loves these movies, but why didn’t the Oscars reflect this?

If we look at the winner of Best Picture in the 2018 Oscars, The Shape of Water,  it sits at number 48 on the list of top grossing movies just for 2017. The movie cannot even compare to the amount of commercial success that the two previous movies have had, yet it won best picture of the year.

The movies Get Out and Dunkirk were some of the few movies that made appearances who also made it on the list of top grossing films. Get Out is a wonderful movie, and both box office and Academy awards prove this, but most movies do not fit this small exception.

A movie about having an emotional connection with a fish-man won best picture while record breaking movies, such as Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, were not even nominated.

The judging criteria for the Oscars obviously doesn’t align with the general public, but should it? What everyone around the world regards as the best movies of the year aren’t recognized by the Academy. Is the box office success a reflection of a good movie, or is it the result of hype before the movie even comes out that brings everybody to the theater?