I Sure Am Glad I Watched the Oscars!
I didn’t have “write a post-Oscars blog post” on my itinerary, mostly because I figured nothing interesting was going to happen (though, fine: this space would’ve been nothing but expletives if Don’t Look Up had won Best Picture). Things, however, got, well…interesting, so here I am.
-I don’t know what the solution to my complaint is, but the entire presentation of the show needs a makeover. From the stifling atmosphere to the odd choice of presenters to a misallocation of time that resulted in the costume design award getting its own segment while Hans Zimmer took home an award during a commercial break, the show had an air of artifice and obligation behind it, and that’s without getting into its interminable runtime. I realize these jokes can be made about many past ceremonies, but just because it has been a problem for a while doesn’t mean it always needs to be a problem. As much as I appreciate that technical accomplishments in film deserve to be acknowledged, this could’ve been cut down to a vibrant hour instead of a slumber three-and-a-half.
-I didn’t say this in my ten-thousand-word preview piece because I was afraid of how it was going to come across, but I suppose I should say it now: while Drive My Car was the best of the Best Picture nominees, the best story or headline or however else you want to put it would come from CODA winning. In addition to being a story about people that usually aren’t depicted in a respectful light, it is a modern success story, going from being the little indie film that could, to winning the top prize at the most visible film awards show in the world. A cynic might call that pandering or a miscarriage of justice in pursuit of a Monday morning headline, but I cried for joy when it was announced as the winner. Props, too, for Troy Kotsur winning Best Supporting actor as well as Siân Héder with the second-biggest shock of the night, winning Best Adapted Screenplay in a field that also included Drive My Car, Dune, and The Power of the Dog. There have been too many post-Oscar slumps to put forth that she’s now “made” for life, but she should be “made” for life.
-That’s not the headline coming out of the show, however. Rather, Chris Rock made an insensitive and bad joke that wouldn’t have been amusing even if it wasn’t at the expense of someone’s medical condition, and Will Smith made sure Rock knew it. We’re less than twelve hours removed from the slap heard around the world and I’m already sick of the discourse, and while my phrasing in the previous sentence should inform of my perspective, I honestly just think the whole thing is more amusing than anything and attempts to take it seriously assign more purpose to it than it deserves. If anything does come of this, I wholly expect we’ll land at the stupidest possible place, so if we reach the point where most stand-up consists of comedians standing behind wire mesh while joking about how all the starving orphans had it coming, I’d like it on the record that I called it, y’all.