It's just a show, deal with it...
There’s a lot of negativity surrounding the Oscars, a lot of cynicism and a lot of doubt. Is it all a political affair? Is it unfairly biased towards certain films and individuals? Does the Academy frequently snub in the most frustrating and embarrassing ways?
Well, yes. All these things are true.
But you know what? It doesn’t matter. For all those arguments to hold any sort of weight it requires a real gravitas to be placed on the award ceremony itself and putting that on the shoulders of the Oscars seems unfair. An award show shouldn’t be an objective measure of quality, and the Oscars, being the freewheeling circus of songs and skits and bizarre hologram projections of talking teddy bears they are, are far from a serious judgment of merit.
If the Academy Awards were just the foremost social and film critics sitting in a half-lit room, solemnly discussing the pros and cons of every single nominee in relation to the post-modernist ethos, then yeah, I’d be pretty dang upset that “Les Misérables” won anything at all when “Holy Motors” didn’t even get a nod.
Sure, this year’s Oscars weren’t fantastic. “Beasts of the Southern Wild” didn’t win anything. Ang Lee won a (slightly) undeserved best director award. Seth MacFarlane was, dare I be brave enough to say what has never been said before, an unfunny and condescending asshole. Things could have been better.
But where else are you going to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt sing a song on stage to Hollywood’s best and brightest and also Kristen Stewart? Or hear Ben Affleck give a rambling and overly excited speech finally acknowledging that, hey, maybe he’s good at something after all?
That’s what it boils down to. The Oscars are purely a source of entertainment, a joyous celebration during one of the darker and slower points of the year. Don’t take it seriously, just have fun with it.
And if that isn’t convincing, just consider the unity that the Oscars promote. I’ve made this point before in regards to the equally “useless” or “reductive” Grammys—for all of its flaws, it’s still an opportunity to sit around with people who love what you love to talk smack or nod in mutual, synchronized approval. Community is such an important concept for me in regards to the arts, the idea of experiencing something you really care about with other people who care just as much as you. Isn’t that the dream?
It’s that same sense of camaraderie that comes from seeing your favorite band with your best friends, or with sitting around with your buddies on a Saturday night watching dumb B-movies and throwing the proverbial popcorn at the screen. The Oscars, for all the backsass and stubbed-toe-pouting they inspire, unify the entirety of the film-appreciating community for one night of real discourse. In the segregated technophilic world of the 21st century, it’s good to sit down and know that, for at least a little while, everyone else is going to be talking about the exact same thing as you.
Because even if the Oscars shouldn’t mean anything at all, they really do. Maybe it’s not by any divine right to relevance but we still put stock in the whole debacle. It’s because the Oscars have become part of the mythos, the legend surrounding the film world. Even if Hollywood’s lost the sparkle and glamour it once had, the Oscars still represent a single night of pure magic. You just need to turn off your brain for a little while and let it wash all over you.
Just, you know, make sure you don’t take it seriously.
-Cameron Graff
No, fight the system man...
How can someone have any beef with an event that gives credit to the year’s best in film? I mean, obviously those individuals and movies nominated for Oscars are the most worthy of all and should be given some kind of acknowledgement.
Well, first off, no. There actually isn’t any reason to give out awards. And anyone with half a sense of right and wrong should realize this. It doesn’t even make sense to try and give out a “best” award to something so subjective as the quality of art. We need to give an award to somebody though, just because, right?
Beyond the fact that I personally don’t think that the Academy Awards do one bit of justice to awarding the actual “best” in each of its respective categories (because let’s be honest, how could they?), I think they present a sort of microcosm of everything that’s wrong with American culture.
It makes most sense to begin dissecting the Academy Awards at their starting point—on the iconic red carpet.
Anyone who watched the Oscars’ red carpet segment this year with the intent of actually gaining a shred of useful information about the nominated movies and actors knows that the pre-event coverage was beyond obsolete in this regard. More so, it consisted of ditzy reporters confusing famous people by asking them vague and irrelevant questions.
Okay, fine, I know, you like to watch the red carpet segment because it’s fun to see who wore what. At the same time, I just don’t understand why anyone cares about this. Maybe I just don’t get it. Maybe I’m overreacting again.
But even if I’m completely off here, this is what I think: the Academy Awards are a propagation of our gross sense of materialism. Are we not just obsessively observing a clique give its own tiny group of uber-wealthy and angelically-attractive selves little gold statuettes? Is there actually any merit to this whole charade?
To some degree the Oscars are just another way for Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to say “Hey, look at us.” It’s a glorified commercial spliced by commercials, which in turn star Academy favorites—here’s looking at you Pitt. We are literally entertained by commercialism.
Here’s another issue I have with the Academy Awards: they only represent one variety of the film medium, which in reality, has many, many veins.
I’m interested if Harmony Korine’s first real blockbuster, upcoming release “Spring Breakers,” will make an appearance during next year’s Oscar season. Korine, who is notorious for his off-the-wall movies such as “Gummo” and “Trash Humpers,” is not the archetypical Academy director. But “Spring Breakers,” which stars Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez, is set to have all the makings of an “award winner”—especially in terms of cinematography. But sadly, I feel Korine’s genius will be overlooked so five other films can be nominated for essentially every category. I guess we’ll see what happens.
Several big-time actors have publicly come out against the Academy Awards—most recently Joaquin Phoenix. I’ve always respected Phoenix as an actor. My affinity for him probably tripled after seeing “I’m Still Here,” and it doubled again when he equated the Oscars to a bullshit carrot while speaking with Interview Magazine.
At the end of the day, the Academy Awards mean something in regards to an actor or director’s worth when they shouldn’t at all. They’re a narrow-sighted event and you should stop caring about them.
-Andy Holsteen
