Does anyone else remember the time that the BEST film made in a year, the very best that Hollywood had to offer, was a black& white without sound that a vast majority of people had never seen or heard of? The following year came with a curiosity- viewership of the award show dropped. It must have been the host! It isn't as if normal people watched to root for a favorite, or even for something they had at least heard of.
Similarly, voting in political elections has been on the decline. Many people will tell you that it doesn't matter who wins because no one gets things done that they say they will. They generally can't, either due to corruption from raising money for elections, or because they face opposing party members. People want one candidate who is actually different, who stands out from the crowd, and yet manages to be effective. They want the government that fictional books and movies offer. The one with teeth. The one that sees laws that are lacking or are dreadfully out of date and manages to fix it. Cyber crime grows faster than the laws created to prevent it. It's like the politicians need to keep the gun argument on the table so the people don't notice the serious lack of virtual protection, of virtual guns needed for the same reason the founding fathers bothered to put a right to arms in that document! But really, if the people don't have a favorite candidate, or assume that the favorite they do have won't win because they learned that The Artist is as good as it gets, voter turn out will continue the same decline that The Academy has been straddled with.
