Re: The Oscars
I thought Jon Stewart did pretty well, and definitely better than expected. Not as polished or a solid crowd pleaser like Billy Crystal or Steve Martin, but he seemed himself, and handled both his zingers and bombs well. The occasional awkward pause and squirm from the audience was fine... good, even. Whether politics or ego, some things need a good nudge now and then.
I'm amazed at all the people who see the fact that Brokeback Mountain didn't win as some sort of failure in the vision of the Oscars, that it means that they're anti-gay all of a sudden, or just not tolerant enough. One, this is the entertainment industry (where the other common criticism is that it glamorizes "alternative sexuality"), two, it's just a popularity contest (what awards show isn't?), and three, being provocative and different isn't the only criteria here. I can think of dozens of films that broke the mold, that changed the world, that mattered, that got lots of acclaim and put into film school textbooks... but didn't win Best Picture, simply because folks found other films more entertaining, more enjoyable, more appropriate or relevant to their time, ad nauseum.
Brokeback's strong showing overall should show the level of respect it has in the industry. I don't think "Crash" won because the academy was being cowardly. I think "Crash" won because more voters liked it better.
I thought Jon Stewart did pretty well, and definitely better than expected. Not as polished or a solid crowd pleaser like Billy Crystal or Steve Martin, but he seemed himself, and handled both his zingers and bombs well. The occasional awkward pause and squirm from the audience was fine... good, even. Whether politics or ego, some things need a good nudge now and then.
I'm amazed at all the people who see the fact that Brokeback Mountain didn't win as some sort of failure in the vision of the Oscars, that it means that they're anti-gay all of a sudden, or just not tolerant enough. One, this is the entertainment industry (where the other common criticism is that it glamorizes "alternative sexuality"), two, it's just a popularity contest (what awards show isn't?), and three, being provocative and different isn't the only criteria here. I can think of dozens of films that broke the mold, that changed the world, that mattered, that got lots of acclaim and put into film school textbooks... but didn't win Best Picture, simply because folks found other films more entertaining, more enjoyable, more appropriate or relevant to their time, ad nauseum.
Brokeback's strong showing overall should show the level of respect it has in the industry. I don't think "Crash" won because the academy was being cowardly. I think "Crash" won because more voters liked it better.
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