Anora won Best Picture

The indie film, Anora, winning best picture at the 2025 Academy Awards, proves how subjective art is. Some clearly saw it as a unique, emotional masterpiece worthy of the best picture of the year, where others felt it was a brainrot rom-com whose win proves that The Substance is a documentary. Just like that, we find ourselves once again in the age old debate - what does “best picture” really mean?

Winning an Oscar is like being crowned prom queen at an elite private school—it's glamorous, it's coveted, and it’s largely determined by a small group of people in tuxedos, and is debatably, the most esteemed accolade in the entertainment industry. Every year, the ceremony brings with it a slew of opinions, hot takes, and social media feuds about which film should have won, who was “robbed”, what the Academy “got wrong,” and whether cinema is dead. But the real question is - how do we even determine what makes something the best when art itself is a deeply personal experience?

In reality, it’s so much more than just best picture, this is a debate that occurs about all types of art since the human species learned they could create. Art is entirely subjective and is quite literally supposed to be. Think about it - one person’s cinematic triumph is another’s overhyped nap-inducer. One person weeps over a tender, slow-burn romance, while another checks their watch waiting for something to actually happen. Art isn’t a math equation—there’s no definitive “right” answer. Each piece is crafted through the eyes of its artist, shaped by their experiences and emotions, and brought forth from their perspectives and intentions. Yet, every year, we slap trophies and gold stars on films, paintings, performances, and albums as if perspective is something that can be ranked, categorized, and scored.

Maybe that’s the real magic trick of awards season—the illusion that we can quantify the unquantifiable. The desire to crown the “best” isn't just about recognizing excellence, it’s about finding consensus in something inherently divisive. Because as much as we say art is subjective, we also crave validation for our taste. In the wise (paraphrased) words of Timothee Chalamet, “in the age of social media, art is just as much about the coliseum’s reaction”.

As Anora took home the golden statue(s), stirring up the inevitable cheers and groans - if art is meant to be debated, argued over, and interpreted a million different ways—can we really have awards for it at all?