Readers React: Why make a thought-provoking film when you can get an Oscar for blowing things up and selling a lot of tickets?

To the editor: Kudos to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scientists for creating a new category, outstanding achievement in popular film, to share the spotlight with the snobby best picture Oscar. All those elites who keep voting for smaller, independent pictures spend way too much time studying filmmaking and film history, watching and creating movies that reflect disparate cultures and perspectives, and acting like they have better taste than the rest of us.

If we wanted to think, feel deeply, use our imaginations and engage with complex characters and themes, we’d read one of those boring books that win “prestigious” literary prizes. It’s time we properly salute movies with high-octane plots, dazzling images, clear-cut heroes and villains, mega marketing budgets, wide distribution and, most important, humongous ticket sales.

While the academy makes the Oscars great again, it also needs to replace all that fancy “cuisine” it offers after the ceremony by serving and honoring the quintessential American “popular” meal, a Big Mac and fries.

John Morgan Wilson, West Hollywood

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To the editor: If the Academy really wants to drive up TV ratings, why not create an award for best outfit? Who wouldn’t want to know the winner of that category?

Also, why not nominate memorable “moments” from the previous year’s telecast? It could be anything — a really funny joke, a good acceptance speech, a pretty good gaffe, or a totally unscripted moment. It could liven things up and create some social media buzz.

In all seriousness, stop with the incredibly stupid idea of a “popular” film category. It’s the Academy Awards, the pinnacle of film artistic achievement, not box-office bonanza time. Who’s going to be talking about the best popular film award — or, worse, hoping not to be nominated for it?

Peggy Ziegler, Pomona

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To the editor: The reason for declining Oscar TV viewership is simple: We no longer have faces. (Thank you, Norma Desmond.)

The stars once had studio backing, with publicity, anticipation and glamour. Today, we get expensive special- effects movies, car chases, explosions, brutality and faces that are interchangeable. Most actors today don’t carry the cache of the stars of yesteryear.

And yes, audiences have changed — the mystery and glamour have gone.

Watching the Oscars today is not the same. Adding a five-minute spot for the most popular film of the year won’t recapture a lost audience.

Conrad J. Doerr, Palm Springs

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To the editor: So the academy, in an effort to recognize huge box-office hits regardless of actual quality, wants to give Oscars to such movies.

Applying that dubious logic to other competitions for recognition, maybe Major League Baseball should reserve a spot in the playoffs for the team with the highest attendance, without considering the win-loss record. What do you think, baseball fans?

Larry Lasseter, Brea

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To the editor: As a nod to truth in labeling, the academy should name its new award, “best adaptation from a comic book.”

Tim Clark, Los Angeles

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