Because I Said So: Academy Awards celebrate two worlds
Oscar reflect a growing culture gap
This past Sunday, all eyes were on Hollywood for the Academy Awards, the annual celebration of all of the movies nobody bothered to see this past year. It was our yearly reminder that the stars of the screen have very little in common with the rest of us.
The show flowed as usual: Stars showed up wearing dresses that would have been mocked at our senior proms. The host, John Stewart, joked with all the stars sitting in the front row—most of whom were unrecognizable and, accordingly, nominated for an award.
And then it started: The yearly handout of miniature gold men to people who performed in, directed or operated a sound board for a movie about the wickedness of the Bush administration. Okay, I exaggerate. It’s more fair to characterize them as movies most Americans weren’t cheering loudly for. Honestly, I don’t think anyone was on the edge of their seat hoping that “La Vie En Rose” would take home a few top prizes.
I forced myself to watch all of this year’s ceremony, during which time I heard names of people and films that might as well have been in a different language. Am I the only one who didn’t see “The Savages” this year? I guess I missed the memo about “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” too.
The three heavy favorites—“Michael Clayton,” “There Will be Blood” and “No Country for Old Men”—were at least familiar to me; I passed over them when I bought my ticket for “27 Dresses.” “Juno,” the one artsy film I could actually appreciate, lost in three out of four categories. Bummer.
The Oscars haven’t always been like this, of course, nor are they always like this in the present. Films like “Casablanca,” “The Sound of Music,” “Rocky,” “Forrest Gump” and other beloved classics have been awarded top honors from the academy over the years. And many of the popular blockbuster movies of our generation have been honored, such as “Titanic” and “Lord of the Rings.” The academy doesn’t get it all wrong, to be sure.
But they definitely don’t get it all right. The films many of us will tell our kids about—“Shrek,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Spiderman,” just to name three of the past decade’s hugest movie series—earned a combined 20 nominations. How many have they won? A whopping three combined. Most of their nominations fell into categories like best sound editing and other stuff no one really brags about on the cover of the DVD.
Of course, the academy chooses its winners with a much different criteria than we choose our favorites. That’s fine; it’s their craft, not ours. I’m fully aware that my tastes are ill-refined next to the gods and goddesses of Hollywood.
But that just goes to show you that there’s a culture gap between Hollywood and the masses: We appreciate very different things.
Most of us were pulling for Johnny Depp a few years ago when he earned a Best Actor nomination for playing the unforgettable Jack Sparrow. He lost to Sean Penn’s portrayal of Jimmy Markum in “Mystic River.”
Which performance are we more likely to remember in 20 years? Or, even better, which performance do we actually remember right now?
If the Academy wants to honor its own best-of-the-best, that’s perfectly fine. But if they’re not going to reward films that have defined American pop-culture, I’d prefer not to watch a six-hour chunk of primetime devoted to covering their little gala, and I certainly don’t want to hear about it for three extra weeks before and after the ceremony.
To this uncultured American, the dresses are ugly, the movies are weird and the scripted jokes are not funny. If the Academy ever decides it wants to honor a Will Ferrell movie, I’ll be tuning in with popcorn and TiVo. Until then, pass me the remote, because I’m watching “Anchorman” for the 20th time.
Kathryn Manning is a senior history and political science major.
