Why “The Actor Awards” Still Fails: A Closer Look at Netflix’s Disappointing Show

Netflix has a lot of influence, making it tricky for consumers to push for changes. But even they seem to be feeling the heat from the switch of the SAG Awards to the Actor Awards, as evidenced by this trailer release.

The Actor Awards totally replaces AFTRA, which has around 100K members. Maybe the dislike for the term “SAG” is the driving force behind this change. But changing a well-known brand like the SAG Awards to something as generic as The Actor Awards seems like a misstep. Imagine if the Oscars suddenly rebranded themselves as The Film Twitter Awards. Oddly enough, that might actually sound better than The Actor Awards. And the SAG Awards team goes to great lengths to avoid using terms like ‘Actress,’ opting instead for convoluted phrases like “Best Lead Actor who is Female in a performance in a movie where there are males and females but we can’t use the word ‘actress’ because it’s politically incorrect.”

They seem to be aiming for gender-neutral categories, and it wouldn’t be surprising if they eventually head in that direction. But let’s be real, The Actor Awards just doesn’t have the same recognition or impact as the SAG Awards. It’s a safe, bland choice, and it’s unclear why they would abandon the SAG brand after all these years. I’ll stick with calling them the SAG Awards; old habits die hard, and this change is more annoying than anything else.