Last night, I watched the 88th Annual Academy Awards (otherwise known as “The Oscars”). That is nearly 100 years of cinematic history, and I have to post something, anything, about it (don’t I?). But I don’t know what to write.
Leo (finally) won, Stallone (sadly) lost, and Spotlight (kind of) upset. Old memes are falling. New memes are rising. And everyone is talking about diversity. But I don’t know what to write.
This is the one awards show I watch every year (sorry, Emmys. don’t care about you, Grammys. and, srsly, fuck off Golden Globes) and have watched every year for as long as I can remember. But I don’t know what to write.
I love movies. Good movies (I tell people that The Godfather: Part II is my favorite), bad movies (but we all know it’s Road House) and even god awful movies (I am literally watching Magic Mike XXL as I type this). But, everybody now, I don’t know what to write.
This all leads me to the big question – “Is there anything new to say about The Oscars?” I could tell you my opinions of the show (too long, somewhat underwhelming, Chris Rock was funny, if a bit one-note), but they’re no different than anything anyone else is probably saying. And even more so, like the show itself, they’ll be forgotten in a day or two, if that. Which leads to the bigger question – “Are the Oscars even still relevant anymore?”
And the answer is, especially with ratings at their lowest in 8 years, maybe not….? Maybe they never were? I don’t know, and I’m not sure anyone else really does either.
By all accounts, I am an old(ish) (very) white man with a bit of a cynical streak (given that, shouldn’t I be in the Academy?), but I’m also still that 11-year-old kid who gets emotionally invested in these awards. Who was sad when Stallone lost and ecstatic when Brie Larson won. Who even, maybe just a little, misses those weird dance numbers. And who is happy when people who seem to genuinely love what they do, and work hard at it, are rewarded.
I don’t have all the answers. Hell, I don’t even have all the questions. But what I do have is this place, our podcast and an opportunity for discussion.
And with that, I close out this post not sure exactly what I wrote, but at least I wrote something.
Check us out next week as Loren and I try to tackle those big (and bigger) Oscar questions.
From the couch,
–RDT