It is Oscar season! Every year, as we plunge into the deep freeze of winter, Hollywood starts to vibrate with excitement. Award season kicks off the new year. Flowing gowns cascade down the shoulders of the world’s most elite actresses, skin-tight scraps of fabric are pasted to picturesque bodies, suits and tuxedos begin to march. The red carpet is unfurled.

There are both lovers and haters of the Oscars — probably more haters, to be fair. I, however, am a loyal devotee to the golden statue and all he represents. I do have my own issues with this award show, but I believe that, in spite of all of its flaws, the Academy Awards do a lot more good than they do bad.

When the list of nominees is released every year, near the end of January, I find myself scanning its surface for movies I recognize. There are the obvious blockbusters: “Toy Story 3! I know that one”; “Avatar. Yeah, I’ve heard of that.” And then there are the edgier releases that still made it to every theatre in the country. “Black Swan. I saw that!” or “True Grit . . . that was the Cohen brothers western, right?”

But then there are the films that no one but the most devoted movie-goers recognizes: “Winter’s Bone . . . what?”; “An Education? Who’s in that?”; “The Descendants?”

This is definitely a year for the low budget films. The 84th Academy Awards has nine nominated films in the Best Picture Category: The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, and War Horse. Of those nine, you may have heard of The Help, and you have probably heard of Moneyball. Heck, you may even recognize Hugo or Midnight in Paris. Maybe. But, for the majority of viewers on Feb. 26, more than half of this category is completely unknown, filled with movies we have neither seen nor heard of.

This brings me to my only real issue with the Oscars. They often snub blockbusters: comedies, action flicks, horror films, basically every genre of film that the general population will actually go out and see. This makes the awards ceremony a dull business. If you do not know the films that are winning all of the awards, why on earth should you care or tune in?

And it is not like there aren’t blockbuster films out there that deserve a place in the ceremony.

This summer, Ryan Gosling starred in Drive, a movie that is so much more than an action flick. At the end of September, 50/50 was released. Joseph-Gordon Levitt plays a 27-year old  diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Thanks in no small part to Will Reiser’s screenplay based on his own personal experiences, and to Seth Rogan’s honestly hilarious performance as Levitt’s best friend, this movie is breathtaking and will make your skin tingle. And it deserves a place at the Oscars on the 26th. Comedies, however, are not nominated for best picture. Bridesmaids got a nod for the screenplay, but wasn’t included in the best picture category for this exact reason.

It is frustrating to see movies that made you laugh, scream and clutch the edge of your seat be completely ignored by the academy. Captain America, Horrible Bosses, Harry Potter, and Fright Night (great film!): these are all great movies that awards ceremonies will never have room for — and this is pretty sad.

But the Academy does make up for this! The Oscars redeem themselves by drawing attention to films like The Artist. The Artist won the Golden Globe for Best Picture this year and it deserves the same honour at the Oscars. It deserves all of the hype that that infamous “Oscar buzz” is producing, it deserves to be seen in theatres. The Artist is a silent, black and white movie that proves you don’t need constant chattering dialogue to make a great movie. Film, by definition, is a visual medium, and what truly matters are not the words coming out of the actors’ mouths, but the story that their faces can tell us if we learn how to pay attention again.

The Academy will often choose to honour artistic movies that will not always make it to a theatre near you. This seems pretty lame. But by doing this, they give movies as absolutely stunning as The Artist a chance to give the whole world a taste of their awesomeness.

In spite of the near obscurity of most of the movies on the roster this year, everyone should allow Billy Crystal to take their television sets hostage for three hours. The pros outweigh the cons. It’s as simple as that.