How relevant is the 'foreign film has never won BP' stat?

When foreign films have over 100 noms collectively in screenplay and directing (not to mention acting) and yet only 12 have been nominated for BP, you have to acknowledge the bias. Parasite is a frontrunner for screenplay (although Tarantino could still take it) but it won't the first time a foreign language film has been a frontrunner in an above-the-line category and still loses BP. Roma, for example. If the "foreign film BP" stat is meaningless, than surely more would have won or been nominated by now...

Obviously someday that ceiling will be broken but it's a very, very high ceiling with 91 years behind it. Parasite might be the one to break it, but against a very clear frontrunner like 1917 I'm not seeing it. Parasite has been breaking records but it hasn't won the PGA, DGA, or any industry BP awards outside of FLF. Roma won both the DGA and Bafta BP last year and then went on to lose to the PGA winner. It was the perceived frontrunner. Green Book didn't even have a directing nod and still it overtook the movie with an assured BD win. And 1917 is performing much better than Green Book did last year...

I know you hate 1917 but you need to give it up, man. Parasite won SAG, WGA and a couple techs. 1917 has swept the rest.

The biggest hurdle of 1917 is bigger than Parasite, that being NO ACTING SUPPORT.

Some of them like the Cesars do. It's definitely very condescending so it's grating the Academy is realizing that just now

Considering it's happened 0% of the time in the entire history of the Oscars I'd say that it is pretty relevant. Until you see foreign films win on a semi-regular basis (or at all) it's safe to say it's a pretty major disadvantage. Roma had a much stronger resume with precursors than Parasite and still didn't win. 

I can easily imagine a movie with only one major BP precursor not winning BP. And as has been said before, the SAG ensemble winner usually doesn't win, so IDK why so many on here are acting like Parasite winning it makes it an overwhelming favorite for BP. I haven't seen the movie, but it feels like a lot of people on here just really like it personally and want it to win. As was pointed out in another thread about this a movie with 1917's awards resume wins like 70-80 percent of the time. Parasite winning would be one of the biggest BP upsets ever. They happen periodically like with Moonlight a few years ago, but people outright saying Parasite is the favorite strikes me as a bit ridiculous. 

There haven't been any crowd-pleasing foreign language prestigy films like Crouching Tiger. The Raid had hype on the ground and is a cult classic because of how insane the choreography is, but was not classy enough; meanwhile Parasite is a weak echo of that Crouching Tiger triumph. It's not nearly as good a movie, or as commercial. Whether that should block it from winning in this weak field is another question.

It's not a "stat," it's a stigma. 

well, i mean it is still an American show and it may cause problems.

it probably will but it must not be one that cinephiles only know. The GP doesnt know this movie.

As somebody else said the different awards all across the countries usually tend to give the big prize to a home production.

But I'm still not sure HOW relevant this stat really is, that it never won. Back in the old days it was very unusual that foreign films were even in the conversation and many countries even didn't have the industry to produce many good or great movies (nations like France, Italy, Japan aside). I think in the past two and a half decades the Academy have opened up a bit towards them. And I think the voters, who think: "I don't vote for a movie that's not american", get less and less.
The nomination might be the even bigger hurdle for foreign productions. If it's among the circle of nominees and well beloved, it can possible can get to the win. I doubt it will be this year, though I certainly won't rule out Parasite, but I think we will see it one day.

However I don't think your comparison to "Slumdog Millionaire" is very apt. That one was a fairy-tale that left viewers behind feeling happy. Not quite what Parasite is.

On the one hand, the relevance of this stat is quite clear since no foreign film has won BP in the history of Oscars (as others have pointed out).

But I think that another stat also looks quite relevant in this case - the stat that many stats have been broken on a consistent basis over the last few years. Some of them may seem minor but they do get broken anyway so even though the 'no foreign movie won BP' stat is something that has yet to be broken, I think like many other stats it can also fall.

And this year seems like the one to do it. 1917 has a very strong thing going for it but it's clear that Parasite has enormous support as well. Everything has been done to make Parasite the hip it-movie of the season, the cool choice. Its hype machine in the trades and on the internet has been overwhelming and its several big guild awards are nothing to sneer at either. It's finishing the season not as some of an underdog but as a Top 2 frontrunner and I think that it may just be the film to break this long-standing stat.

I think its biggest hurdle, apart from 1917, is the fact that there already is that Foreign category in the first place - I can absolutely see voters pick it there and kinda leave it at that. At the same time I can also see Parasite as being the film that stays somewhere at the top of pretty much every BP ballot which of course is how movies win that shit.