Hollywood may seem like an easygoing and extremely liberal place to live in, but the Academy Of Arts And Sciences that hosts the Oscars every year, doesn’t seem so welcoming to changes. Don’t you think?

However, there were quite a few shake ups within the Academy (this year alone) and some of them were good successful reforms, while others failed spectacularly even from the get go. Let’s recap.

There was the proposal of adding a Favorite film category and moving the four separate categories in the commercial break segments. After much backlash, the Academy caved in and canceled the plans but backed some of the new and controversial reforms.

Like not having an Academy Awards host for the first time in 30 years. After Kevin Hart’s stepping down from his Oscar hosting duties, the Oscar ceremony will continue on Saturday without a host to guide the show.

But based on those decisions (and on several others), there’s an obvious conflict within the Academy on where to take the Oscars in order to improve the ratings. The Oscar ratings have been in free fall for several years now, and they’re not likely to improve.

But this year could be the case, actually. With the lack of host, the ceremony will bound to be shorter and there’s a real mix bag of people among the presenters and the performers as well.

The performer’s portion of the Oscars is an eclectic mix of old and new, which apparently the Academy thinks that will appeal on both sides of the audience. Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Hudson should appeal to the younger audience, while Bette Midler, Queen, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings should please some of the older and more conservative fans.

But if we analyze the modernization of the Oscars, we have to look at the nominations first. The dramas and the biopics have dominated the Best picture category once more, but this time there’s a hint of modernization. The inclusion of Black Panther is the perfect example of that modernization and it’s quite frankly a welcomed addition.

It’s the same with the presenters. Hey this time even Serena Williams will appear to present a segment of the Oscars and the rest of the lineup is a mix of the very fresh and very new of Hollywood and the very old and very familiar faces of Hollywood. That’s why we’ll see actresses like Awkwafina, Emilia Clarke, KiKi Layne on one side of the spectrum and screen legends Helen Mirren, Angela Bassett on the other.

I think that the Academy at this point is lost on what to do to improve, but without losing the shine, the glitz and the glamour that has been a staple of the Oscars for over 90 years. It’s clear that they want to implement some changes, but I think that they have no idea on where to start, and what to modernize in the reforms. However, the Oscars are due on Sunday, February 24 and I can’t wait for them to be honest. With or without a host.