Manifesto aint-Oscars

[El Che]

Sunday night, as I pass through the TV channels late at night I see a patern, it would seem the Oscars ceremony is the top concern of western society on that evening. Something about the whole sepectacle makes me uneasy, "a parade of idiots" I think to my self. And yet, I cant just leave it at that, if that where all there was to it I would leave it at that. But I feel there is more to it then a parade of idiots, if it were not so I would have no problem with it. Something in the Oscar ceremony is contrary to Socialist spirt, spirt which I submerse my self in. There is a statement being made at the Oscars ceremony, therein is a depiction of american society. Even more disturbing is the fact that the event is followed with great entusiasm altrought europe and other parts of the world. I am afraid of american society, its cold and stupid, stupid and stupidificating, it is contrary to the Socialist spirt. Marx said "and advanced nation shows the others but a reflection of their future self". American society is coming and I must run from it. The Oscars ceremony is but an event in this contrext that its society constitues, its but a some particule of a whole, one that becomes rediculous to someone whole is an alien to the culture it is insered in. But to someone who is a part of such a culture, someone who makes it his own culture it is normal. Just like thinking that a contry having a mc donalds resturante is a sign of progress. These are all things a know rationaly, but seeing them in actuality, seeing american culture of idiocy and frivolity come closer, seeing that it is already here, cant help but revolt me. All these things I see in the Oscars ceremony, all these things are part of its dreadfull statement. It is my friends when you think about it a statement of capitalism, its says capitalism is here. It says look at the importance, the "glamour" of our film intustry alone. Film industry, by the way, that produces nothing of quality, merely spits out mass produced films that are nothing more then copies of each other. Those are the role models of our society, a society of competition in which the biggest ego wins. This too is a message in and of its self, a message relative to the values of our society, what do you values in people? I would rather be with simple fishermen on a nights work then at the Big Ego parade, 100 fold. And there would probably be more interesting concersation there too, call me crazy but I prefer real people over plastic.

(Edited by El Che at 6:32 pm on Mar. 25, 2002)

[vox]

Ah, the Oscars....

It's not original to suggest that celebrities are the new royalty in the US, and that royal-watching has a long tradition.

And, of course, I don't know that anyone immersed in this culture can escape an opinion about it. Certainly, the Oscars are an exercise in self-congratulation, but I still would have liked to have seen Altman win (he never will, too much of an outsider) simply because he directed one of my favorite movies ("Short Cuts," based on the writings of Raymond Carver, a favorite author of mine.)

There were charges that this year's Oscars were the most political ever, with "A Beautiful Mind" being the attack of a negative campaign. Why? Because the Oscars translate into money. Studios know that winning an Oscar means that more people will want to see the movie, and they spend a lot of money campaigning for films. It's common for Academy members to receive videos (probably DVDs now) of nominated films before the voting. Full page ads are taken out in trade publications like "Variety" in support of films. It's very much like a political campaign, and I think we all know that cash drives politics.

As for the content of Hollywood films, well, that's driven by cash, too. Test audiences have great power. To cite a famous example, the ending of "Fatal Attraction" was changed when the original ending didn't test well. (I saw a short film by Lyne that told the same story with a very different ending.)

Unless you're a name director (Coppola, Scorcese, Spielberg, Allen) the amount of artistic control you have over a film is limited, which is really too bad, because, though it's easy to mock Hollywood, I think that there are some truly creative people there who want to do quality work. At the same time, we shouldn't forget about things like "Reds" and "Bulworth" (the quality of "Bulworth" can be argued, but the message was pretty clear,) "Silkwood," "Norma Rae" and even "Erin Brokavich" which take unpopular stances, though they are rare and becoming rarer yet.

I recall seeing a special Siskel and Ebert about film in the Seventies where they said that movies like "The Conversation" and "Taxi Driver" couldn't be made today, and I fear they were right. It's a shame, really, but not surprising. Money is king, and Jim Carrey ranks higher than Buscemi because of it.

Hmmm, this could actually be a symptom of US anti-intellectualism and the disparaging of what's been called High Culture (indeed, the feminization of such a thing: boys who read poetry are not generally considered masculine in your average US high school.)

Just some random thoughts,

vox

[Valkyrie]

The whole thing is built up months ahead into such a frenzy. So much pomp and then boom!-- anti-climatic.

And that pre-show crap on the red carpet -- "Who are you wearing?" (i'm wearing you, mother fucker.)

It is so surreal that it does not represent N. American culture at all. Atleast not where I live.

[I Will Deny You]

I've been watching the Oscars for a decade and a half. I never watch the pre-show or any of that crap because I really couldn't be bothered to care about what's on Ron Howard's mind when my time would be better spent reading an article on Kubrick, but I almost always see the last hour and rarely see anything else. I'm not sure if watching an hour of television makes me a mindless anti-socialism drone. Would it help my cause if I told you I was drunk during the Oscars two years ago?

We all know that the best films are rarely the ones that win Oscars. And while the money spent to make Monsters Ball might have been put to better use making ten Mementos or optioning some books or (gasp!) feeding some starving children, it was still not a bad film at all.

I laughed my ass off at Bulworth. I don't care if anyone else hated it. It sure wasn't a deep, thought-provoking political critique, but it didn't aspire or pretend to be. It was Warren Beatty in the ghetto. It was funny, even if it didn't stand up to reason or other sill things. I agree that Taxi Driver definitely couldn't be made today, which is a damned shame because that was an incredible movie. (The 90's equivalent of Taxi Driver, a Nicholas Cage vehicle called Bringing Out the Dead, was still a great movie. I love Scorsese's sense of humor.)

The Oscars probably do suck. Ghost World definitely rules, Buscemi not only deserves to get ten times as many contracts as Carrey, but deserved a nomination for best supporting actor. But some of the movies that were nominated, like Memento, The Royal Tenenbaums, Mulholland Drive, Gosford Park and Shrek were undeniably good.

(Edited by I Will Deny You at 4:21 pm on Mar. 26, 2002)

[El Che]

Taxi Driver definatly kicks ass. De Niro is the best actor to ever walk the earth, in the movie in question he is at his best and on top of this--and the whole concept of the movie--you have that great music adding that final psycological element to the movie experience.

BTW, I never did see reds anyone have any idea were I could maybe download a copy of the movie or something?

[RedRevolutionary87]

someone should wear nothing to the oscars, and when someone confronts them about it, they ought to reply that they dont want to endorse any product but theyre own skin