I suggest that you skip the Oscars this year. I know there are a lot of great films being discussed, and that Hollywood’s royalty will be clad in panoplies of designer clothes, but there are also reasons not to watch the show.

For one, The Dark Knight was not nominated for Best Picture. This may seem like a ridiculous reason not to watch the Oscars, but I think it’s highly relevant. The Dark Knight was the second-highest-grossing domestic film of all time, earning almost $533 million at the box office, with a worldwide total of almost $1 billion. The only film that has trumped its sales was about some boat that hit an iceberg, but I can’t remember what it was called.

There’s a curious disparity between the public’s love for a movie and the Academy’s disregard for popular opinion. It seems as though high-grossing and thoroughly entertaining movies are often pushed to the back of the award roll by films that are more, well, boring.

Box office numbers should have strong bearing on what awards are given out. People don’t watch the Oscars to see their favorite movies trampled. In fact, this trend may be what is turning viewers away in droves every year. Oscar viewership during the 2008 ceremony was down 21 percent from 2007.

Since the 1997 awards, which awarded 11 Oscars to Titanic (that’s what it was called!) and glued millions more viewers to the TV, ratings have zigzagged downward. When Shakespeare in Love beat out Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture in 1999, public credibility probably faded a great deal more. Spielberg directing Hanks should be a giveaway Oscar.

It is wrong to demand that ticket sales should determine who the awards go to, but confusing award recipients may indeed reflect the ratings. When obscure intellectual fare is pushed to the forefront instead of high-quality action, it alienates many viewers. What’s wrong with some explosions and violence, as long as it’s balanced out by great acting and strong characters? Films are still a form of entertainment, and viewers have always watched the Oscars to hopefully have their own film opinions confirmed by the Academy’s choices.

The good news is that although The Dark Knight didn’t make it into the running for Best Picture, Slumdog Millionaire did, and without an all-star Hollywood cast to propel it into preemptive success and media buzz. I am not debating which of these movies was better — but I think the public will most watch the films it thinks are best, and that on some level this choice should be reflected in the awards given.

I do mourn the fact that Heath Ledger is nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, when by all appearances The Dark Knight was his movie. Few performances have been so heart-wrenching, compelling and entertaining all at once.

Most of Sunday’s show will consist of red-carpet entrances, high-profile stars giving profuse thank-yous, and lackluster jokes — I like Hugh Jackman, but I am doubtful of the strength of his comedy. So I recommend that instead of bothering with a dragged-out, tired Oscar ceremony, you spend Sunday night going out to a good film. I recommend Waltz With Bashir.

Reach columnist Jackson Rohrbaugh at opinion@dailyuw.com.