Amidst the pinky-out prestige of awards season sits the manic pixie of The People’s Choice Awards. Perhaps they can easily be dismissed by the cinephile crowd for not being nearly well-rounded or interesting enough, but looking at the nominees and the winners can provide a bird’s eye view into the abyss of mass-entertainment.

With over 200 million votes cast, according to a press release, the winners included Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds as The Green Lantern, Adam Sandler‘s comedy and Bridesmaids. To put that into perspective, that’s a ridiculous amount of people. To really put it into perspective, it’s 7.6 million more people than the entire population of Brazil, and it’s 2/3rds the population of the United States.

The giant, faceless wad of “the people” have made these their movie champions of 2011:

Favorite Movie Actress

Emma Stone
Julia Roberts
Jennifer Aniston
Reese Witherspoon

Favorite Movie Actor:

Daniel Radcliffe
Hugh Jackman
Johnny Depp
Robert Pattinson
Ryan Reynolds

Favorite Comedic Movie Actress:

Cameron Diaz
Emma Stone
Jennifer Aniston
Mila Kunis
Natalie Portman

Favorite Comedic Movie Actor:

Adam Sandler
Ashton Kutcher
Bradley Cooper
Ryan Reynolds
Steve Carrell

Favorite Ensemble Movie Cast:

The Hangover Part II
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
X-Men: First Class

Favorite Movie Star Under 25:

Daniel Radcliffe
Tom Felton
Chloe Grace Moretz
Rupert Grint
Emma Watson

Favorite Action Movie Star:

Hugh Jackman
Ryan Reynolds
Shia LaBeouf
Taylor Lautner
Vin Diesel

Favorite Animated Movie Voice:

Anne Hathaway as Jewel, Rio
Jack Black as Po, Kung Fu Panda 2
Johnny Depp as Rango, Rango
Katy Perry as Smurfette, The Smurfs
Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen, Cars 2

Favorite Drama Movie:

Water for Elephants
The Help
The Adjustment Bureau

Favorite Comedy Movie:

The Hangover: Part II
Bad Teacher
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Friends With Benefits

Best Action Movie

Fast Five
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
X-Men: First Class

Favorite Movie Superhero:

Chris Evans as Captain America
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
James McAvoy as Professor X
Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique
Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern

Favorite Movie Icon:

Robert De Niro
Harrison Ford
Tom Hanks
Morgan Freeman
George Clooney

So what have we learned?

  1. You have to separate the Comedic Actors from the Regular Actors, but Emma Stone will win no matter what.
  2. But even thought they love her, the people apparently didn’t love the movie she was in the best.
  3. The cast from Harry Potter 8 is the best ensemble, but when you put them up individually against Chloe Moretz, Hit Girl will kick their asses.
  4. The people love some Hugh Jackman action, but Real Steel wasn’t even nominated for Best Action Movie. Possibility: his 1-second cameo in First Class was enough to cement it. Other Possibility: His seething role in Butter put him over the top action-wise.
  5. Both Johnny Depp’s voice and his actual physical presence are big fan favorites.
  6. Despite making $120m less worldwide than Captain America, the people still love Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern the most.
  7. Apparently no one seeing Jack and Jill helped Adam Sandler win an award. Since no one saw it, how would they know he’s that unfunny?
  8. Voice overs will only be done by major celebrities (and not voice over artists) forever and ever and ever and ever.
  9. There might be some overlap between the People’s Choice and the Oscars in the form of Bridesmaids. If it’s nominated, it will be the rare film that captures the popular and the critical affection movies use for fuel (like robots and old people’s medicine). There will also be overlap with Rango and possibly with Harry Potter 8 since it’s gone 0-7 with Best Picture nominations.
  10. God is now a movie icon.

Some interesting notes, but ultimately they all come about because 200 million votes got mashed together to form a single, weird view. But they should not be discredited. For all the black-tie affairs that happen this time of year, it’s always important to remember that this is what the people wanted. This is what the huddled masses enjoy the most: Adam Sandler, Ryan Reynolds, Harry Potter, Hugh Jackman, Emma Stone, and a comedy about a woman-child who can’t handle being a maid of honor.

What say you?

Favorite Action Movie Star:

Hugh Jackman (Winner)
Ryan Reynolds
Shia LaBeouf
Taylor Lautner
Vin Diesel

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