It's always a huge honor to be nominated, but this year, that's especially true. The 2017 MTV Movie and TV Awards nominations are out, and it's clear the network put thought into the power that comes with their platform, and how to use it for good. The awards kicked things up a notch with five new categories, which include standard additions like "Best Host" and "Best Reality Competition," but also "Tearjerker" and "Best American Story," the latter of which highlights a broad range of American experiences — honoring stories that give voice to immigrants, people of color, and the LGBT community. The category gives nods to TV shows like ABC's Blackish and Fresh Off the Boat, both from ABC, as well as the CW's Jane the Virgin and Amazon's Transparent. Moonlight, the recipient of the 2017 Best Picture Oscar, is also included.
It's exciting stuff, but frankly, the addition I'm most excited about isn't an addition at all, but rather a change. Instead of dedicating a category to "Best Fight," as they've done in the past, MTV made a tiny but crucial tweak. The category is now called "Best Fight the System," which is what they're calling "a nod to the world young people find themselves in today" that "[awards the prize] to the film or show whose characters best exemplify fighting against a system that tries to keep them down." Now, instead of glorifying violence or conflict, the MTV Movie and TV Awards are encouraging projects that speak out in more productive ways, that challenge their environments rather than pitting two individuals against each other.
In this new category, MTV extended noms to the movies Get Out, which so seamlessly blended horror with a social message; Hidden Figures, which shed light on the too-often-ignored contributions of three brilliant black women working at NASA in the '60s; Loving, which showed us a prejudiced world from not so long ago and the people brave enough to defy it; as well as TV shows Luke Cage and Mr. Robot, which take on institutional corruption and capitalistic greed, respectively.
But the acknowledgement of bold voices doesn't stop there; even the category of "Best Host" has an eye to trailblazers and whistleblowers, singling out Ellen DeGeneres, John Oliver, RuPaul, Samantha Bee, and Trevor Noah for praise.
Check out the full list of nominees below.
Movie Of The Year
- Beauty and the Beast
- Get Out
- Logan
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
- The Edge of Seventeen
Best Actor In A Movie
- Daniel Kaluuya — Get Out
- Emma Watson — Beauty and the Beast
- Hailee Steinfeld — The Edge of Seventeen
- Hugh Jackman — Logan
- James McAvoy — Split
- Taraji P. Henson — Hidden Figures
Show Of The Year
- Atlanta
- Game of Thrones
- Insecure
- Pretty Little Liars
- Stranger Things
- This Is Us
Best Actor In A Show
- Donald Glover — Atlanta
- Emilia Clarke — Game of Thrones
- Gina Rodriguez — Jane the Virgin
- Jeffrey Dean Morgan — The Walking Dead
- Mandy Moore — This Is Us
- Millie Bobby Brown — Stranger Things
Best Kiss
- Ashton Sanders & Jharrel Jerome – Moonlight
- Emma Stone & Ryan Gosling – La La Land
- Emma Watson & Dan Stevens – Beauty and the Beast
- Taraji P. Henson & Terrence Howard – Empire
- Zac Efron & Anna Kendrick – Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates
Best Villain
- Allison Williams — Get Out
- Demogorgon — Stranger Things
- Jared Leto — Suicide Squad
- Jeffrey Dean Morgan — The Walking Dead
- Wes Bentley — American Horror Story
Best Host
- Ellen DeGeneres – The Ellen DeGeneres Show
- John Oliver – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
- RuPaul – RuPaul’s Drag Race
- Samantha Bee – Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
- Trevor Noah – The Daily Show
Best Reality Competition
- America’s Got Talent
- MasterChef Junior
- RuPaul’s Drag Race
- The Bachelor
- The Voice
Best Documentary
- 13TH
- I Am Not Your Negro
- O.J.: Made in America
- This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous
- TIME: The Kalief Browder Story
Best Comedic Performance
- Adam Devine — Workaholics
- Ilana Glazer & Abbi Jacobson — Broad City
- Lil Rel Howery — Get Out
- Seth MacFarlane — Family Guy
- Seth Rogen — Sausage Party
- Will Arnett — The LEGO Batman Movie
Best Hero
- Felicity Jones — Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
- Grant Gustin — The Flash
- Mike Colter — Luke Cage
- Millie Bobby Brown — Stranger Things
- Stephen Amell — Arrow
- Taraji P. Henson — Hidden Figures
Tearjerker
- Game of Thrones – Hodor’s Death
- Grey’s Anatomy – Meredith tells her children about Derek’s death
- Me Before You – Will tells Louisa he can’t stay with her
- Moonlight – Paula tells Chiron that she loves him
- This Is Us – Jack and Randall at karate
Next Generation
- Chrissy Metz
- Daniel Kaluuya
- Issa Rae
- Riz Ahmed
- Yara Shahidi
Best Duo
- Adam Levine & Blake Shelton — The Voice
- Daniel Kaluuya & Lil Rel Howery — Get Out
- Brian Tyree Henry & Lakeith Stanfield — Atlanta
- Hugh Jackman & Dafne Keen — Logan
- Josh Gad & Luke Evans — Beauty and the Beast
- Martha Stewart & Snoop Dogg — Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party
Best American Story
- Blackish
- Fresh Off the Boat
- Jane the Virgin
- Moonlight
- Transparent
Best Fight Against The System
- Get Out
- Hidden Figures
- Loving
- Luke Cage
- Mr. Robot
The competition will definitely be tough, but stay tuned to see who takes home the golden popcorn.
