[Wolfstar]

The Oscars, and all the awards shows that came after and patterned themselves on the Oscars, are all about marketing. The concept really has little to do with recognizing excellence. The original idea was to put some gloss on an industry that had been through a number of major scandals -- to repackage a stained industry as a legitimate art medium worthy of glamorous awards.

[Borges]

Well Cinema is a legitimate art. But the Oscars were a minor function of what the Academy was originally founded for in the mid 1920s. Their original function was to fight the onslaught of Unions in the Film Industry.