Oscar the grouch
The Academy Awards are later this afternoon. How do I know? Because much of Hollywood is impenetrable — barricaded from traffic — and has been for days and I’ve stayed well clear. If I’m not having much fun driving around when it isn’t blockaded, imagine what it would have been like the past week.
Here’s something you don’t hear much in these parts: I don’t care about the Oscars. I don’t go to Oscar parties, and I don’t watch the telecast. It eludes me why I should care. If I were attending, or knew someone nominated, or had worked on one of these projects, or was employed in some way by one of these studios or creative teams… sure. But otherwise I don’t know why I should care or, God forbid, devote three-and-a-half hours to watching it.
But won’t I miss the “highlights”? What if “An Inconvenient Truth” wins (a near-certainty) and Al Gore gets up and says something clever and notable? Well, then I’m sure it’ll wind up on Youtube in about 18 seconds. And I’ll get to see it, while saving three-and-a-half hours in the bargain.
I don’t have anything against The Academy Awards — and I’m not saying you shouldn’t watch it — I just have to note that in Los Angeles when I tell people I don’t care and don’t watch it they look at me like I’m a terrorist.
I’ve always felt the same way about professional sports. Mind you, I always liked playing basketball or baseball or football; I just couldn’t imagine sitting around the television watching other people watch it. Or, worse, going to a stadium with thousands of other people and sitting around to watch it. My father felt the same way, which might be why I don’t have the game-watching gene — and neither do our kids. A couple of weeks ago my 15-year-old and I were wondering whether or not the Superbowl had already happened; we weren’t sure if it was on that day or not (turned out it wasn’t). I’m still not sure exactly when it was, although I do remember in passing from the news that it’s now over and I couldn’t tell you who won.
And that’s pretty much going to be my recollection with the Oscars in a few days’ time.
Who won last year? I have no idea.
February 25th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Why watch the Oscars when Battlestar Galacticia is on at 10pm?
Paul
February 28th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
I watch the Oscars for entertainment, to see the stars, and because I’m interested in trends that effect movies. The year that was declared The Year of the Independents was exciting to me. The next year, of course, all the studios marketed their smaller films as ‘independent’ and now they have independent departments.
What was really strange for me was seeing the awards covered by Fox News. I’ve been hearing for years that their coverage is slanted and now I believe it. They claimed that the event was political and supported that by showing a clip of someone (Melissa Etheridge, I believe) saying that saving the planet is not a partisan issue. Fox went on to mention that other themes were same sex marriage and stem cell research. When Etheridge won she thanked her ‘wife’, so I guess that covers the first topic, and whatever was said about stem cell I missed or else it was minor enough that I forgot it. If I hadn’t seen The Oscars, however, it would have seemed like the broadcast was the rally that Fox suggested.