81st Oscars
As any of you who have known me for many years know, the annual Academy Awards program has been my version of the Super Bowl. My love affair with Oscar started in 1946, when, as a college freshman, I elected to do a research paper on the history of the awards. (I still have that paper; I got an A on it.)
Since then I have followed the annual awards with fairly intense interest. But I'm about ready to give up on them after last week's telecast. For one thing, I had not seen one single picture that was nominated for any of the awards, so I had to hope some of my favorite actors/actresses would win, such as Marisa Tomei who won me over with her performance in "My Cousin Vinny". She didn't win, nor did any of the others I was rooting for.
Well, I can live with that. My batting average hasn't been all that great for the last couple of decades.
And I've tried to be somewhat tolerant/patient/understanding, whatever, with the occasional politically-oriented acceptance speeches. But this year I almost turned the show off, twice.
Which brings me to Ronald Reagan (who never won an Oscar). I remember well how he handled a heckler on TV once. Growing more than a little angry with the detractor, he said "I paid for this microphone!"
That got me to thinking about who pays for the Academy Awards telecast (one of the most widely-watched programs of any year). Certainly not any of the people who present and/or accept the awards. Companies such as Coca Cola pay big bucks to help sponser the show. Does that mean these companies endorse some of the attacks that were made? Of course not. So what gives these recipients the feeling that they have the right to use a mike they didn't pay for to vent their personal feelings?
One final thought. If the writer who won the Oscar for best original screen play had been a former Catholic would he have even thought about mentioning it? I doubt it.
Stay tuned.
posted by The Oregonians @ 4:32 PM
4 Comments
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4 Comments:
Dad - I share some of your irk-ness and peeved-ness on this subject. It's hilarious that we give a second thought to anything a movie star says about anything other than creating a movie. So I just wait for them to finish and get on with talking about their craft and entertaining me on a Sunday night in February. Think about hockey fans with me for a moment....we don't bat an eye when they give out the Stanley Cup and if the MVP of the final hockey play-off game spouted off about the bail-out or President Obama, or Mormons or why Dodge Rams are Ram tough and Fords and Chevy's are for sissies, it would not be more than a blurb on page 12 of the sports page and we'd continue to wake up in the morning and stretch and yawn and look out the window to see if we needed an umbrella (Garrison Keillor wrote something along these lines once so I'm partially plagiarizing). I wonder how it all began when movie stars started to think they have credibility outside their own world. Is it because reporters love movies and words so they give movie stars lots of space on the page? As much as our family loves the joy and allure of movie-making, I don't know of anyone, family, friend or foe, who gives a rat's hiney about what a movie star has to say about ANYTHING other than their craft. We hear it, we note it, we don't waste a brain cell processing it because it's irrelevant.
However, when a chiseled, thick-haired, sensitive movie star speaks about their craft I prick up my ears and generally think they're eloquent and larger than life, and, well, movie stars. I love listening to them and watching them in that context. I think I'd be appalled at how much they cuss though - that did it for me for Richard Nixon - I was never the same again after I read the transcript of the secret tapes. Phooey on him.
Thanks for a great post!
XO
Barbie
I have never watched the academy awards, can't name more than two movie stars, and don't pay attention to what any of them say, but I can understand where you are coming from. The real problem with movie stars moving into the realm of politics, science, or anything else is that they are not experts in those fields but some people take their word as gospel. And by the size and quantity of celebrity based magazines, I'd say that lots of people are listening to them. (e.g. Oprah, People, ET, TMZ, to name a few). I also think the same problem exists in the news industry. Too often news anchors and reporters give their opinions instead of simply relaying the facts as is their job. Every body should leave the science to the scientists, the politics to the politicians, and the movies to the movie stars.
This post makes me sad for you, Grandpa. I know how much you love the Academy Awards and it is unfortunate that you have nearly thrown in the towel. As for me, I gave up on Hollywood years ago. There may be only one or two movies that come out every year that excite me, and they are normally the Disney/Pixar flicks. I have not seen a single Best Picture nominee since 2003 (0 for the last 25) and this has not detracted in the least bit from the overall happiness of my life.
I've got to disagree a little with mom, though, about sports and politics. If the Super Bowl MVP dedicated his award ceremony interview to trashing President Obama or decrying the dangers of radical Islam, it would be a bigger story than the Super Bowl itself. The ESPN talking heads would feast on it for weeks. It would be cover material for Sports Illustrated. It would be shocking.
Sports and politics do not mix. Hollywood and hard-left politics have always gone hand-in-glove. It's just the way it is. Too bad it is getting to the point where it is almost unbearable even for Hollywood's biggest fans like you.
Hey, this is fun; commenters disagreeing with each other.
There are some great shows on TCM, no commercials, featuring the REALY big stars (all of whom are dead.) I can empathize with NMH, but wonder if he can empathize with me if I said I could happily live out the rest of my life and never watch any sports. "To each his own..."which, by the way, was a pretty good 1946 movie. Olivia de Havilland won the Oscar for best actress. Of course you all remember Olivia from "GWTW". Well, maybe not all of you.
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