Reply to Topic
Every year the Oscars seem to grow more and more repugnant. Maybe it's just my jaded cynicism talking, but now when I see the Academy Awards, I just think of all the needless self-promotion and left-handed politics that go on.
This year's show seemed especially crass given the fact that there was a war, and outside of the typical movie-star grandstanding, no one did anything. Ostentatious speeches about "our guys overseas" don't really change the fact that half the people on the stage are just douche-bags with awards in their hands.
I just hate the fact that Hollywood celebrities let their twisted fantasy worlds extend into their everyday lives. I mean, on the silver screen it's one thing, but to say these people are completely out of touch with reality is an understatement. The philosophy behind the whole thing is bascially "We make fantasy movies, lead fantasy lives, have fantasy families and tonight are our fantasy awards."
Michael Moore had the temerity to stand up and say what he felt should have been said, and got booed at by people who didn't want their pretentious, self-congratulating party trampled on. Get a grip, people. He can say want he wants, it's his right to. Then Roger Ebert goes and claims that Michael Moore did something wrong and he should have kept his mouth shut. Roger Ebert doesn't have to go fight in the desert, he gets paid to watch movies. Where the hell does he get off?
All I'm saying is that movies are important but they're FAKE. Actors totally forget that. Movies are not real life, and Oscar night is not real life. Yet Oscar night is what some people live for. It's sad.
Then there's the separation of art and business. If anyone, anywhere thinks the Academy Awards are about excellence in film, they're deluding themselves. Thousands of brilliant people will never make the movies they want to make and thousands of people will make movies that are better than Chicago but will never be seen by the masses.
The Oscars are about two things: money and bull****. When Halle Barry walked away with a statue in hand last year, I wanted to write a letter. When Nicole Kidman gave her speech, I wanted to write a dozen. She claimed that in spite of war, the awards were good because it's important to remember art. Two questions immediately sprang to mind:
1) What do the Academy Awards have to do with art?
2) What does Nicole Kidman have to do with art?
What she meant to say was "thank you for giving this to me and thereby furthering my cheesy-ass career.
My point (I'll shut up soon, I swear) is that the Oscars are nothing but Hollywood's annual circle-jerk. Period. Most mainstream movies do NOTHING for me, yet every year you see people up there on that stage, patting themselves on the back, pretending they do relevant, important work. I respect film as an art form TOO MUCH to respect Oscar.
This year's show seemed especially crass given the fact that there was a war, and outside of the typical movie-star grandstanding, no one did anything. Ostentatious speeches about "our guys overseas" don't really change the fact that half the people on the stage are just douche-bags with awards in their hands.
I just hate the fact that Hollywood celebrities let their twisted fantasy worlds extend into their everyday lives. I mean, on the silver screen it's one thing, but to say these people are completely out of touch with reality is an understatement. The philosophy behind the whole thing is bascially "We make fantasy movies, lead fantasy lives, have fantasy families and tonight are our fantasy awards."
Michael Moore had the temerity to stand up and say what he felt should have been said, and got booed at by people who didn't want their pretentious, self-congratulating party trampled on. Get a grip, people. He can say want he wants, it's his right to. Then Roger Ebert goes and claims that Michael Moore did something wrong and he should have kept his mouth shut. Roger Ebert doesn't have to go fight in the desert, he gets paid to watch movies. Where the hell does he get off?
All I'm saying is that movies are important but they're FAKE. Actors totally forget that. Movies are not real life, and Oscar night is not real life. Yet Oscar night is what some people live for. It's sad.
Then there's the separation of art and business. If anyone, anywhere thinks the Academy Awards are about excellence in film, they're deluding themselves. Thousands of brilliant people will never make the movies they want to make and thousands of people will make movies that are better than Chicago but will never be seen by the masses.
The Oscars are about two things: money and bull****. When Halle Barry walked away with a statue in hand last year, I wanted to write a letter. When Nicole Kidman gave her speech, I wanted to write a dozen. She claimed that in spite of war, the awards were good because it's important to remember art. Two questions immediately sprang to mind:
1) What do the Academy Awards have to do with art?
2) What does Nicole Kidman have to do with art?
What she meant to say was "thank you for giving this to me and thereby furthering my cheesy-ass career.
My point (I'll shut up soon, I swear) is that the Oscars are nothing but Hollywood's annual circle-jerk. Period. Most mainstream movies do NOTHING for me, yet every year you see people up there on that stage, patting themselves on the back, pretending they do relevant, important work. I respect film as an art form TOO MUCH to respect Oscar.
__________________
Wit is educated insolence - Aristotle
Wit is educated insolence - Aristotle
