Monday, February 22, 2010

I'll Keep This Brief...But it Really Needs to be Said

So, Zac Efron, Taylor Lautner, Miley Cyrus and Kristen Stewart will all be presenters at the 82nd Academy Awards...

I will concede that I'm a snob. I'll own that. I'll admit it every day of the week and twice on Sundays. But that being the case, even I have found myself making apologies for every one of those people, except Taylor Lautner, about whom I literally know nothing. I even did a write-up of Kristen Stewart on this very blog, calling her one to watch. Granted, that was followed up by an errata once this Twilight nonsense broke and Stewart revealed herself to be an entitled twit who not only masquerades stupidity as cool, disaffected apathy, but is obnoxiously proud of said stupidity. I digress...

The fact of the matter is, there's room for everyone in popular culture. But the fans of Zac, Miley, Kristen and Taylor have seemingly endless opportunities to see these people. If I, as a film-lover, can't turn to the Academy Awards to see someone like Lauren Bacall being honored, then where can I turn? And no, giving Ms. Bacall her own separate but equal untelevised awards ceremony isn't a solution. It's rather disrespectful, actually, when you take into account the people who are allowed to be shown onstage at the telecast. I know it's about ratings, but come on people...have a little integrity. Let me draw an analogy.

I have little or no interest in cars. Therefore, you will not likely catch me at an auto show. That's the way it is and the organizers should not trot out Pedro Almodovar, Spike Lee or Todd Haynes as presenters to try and coax my attendance. It would work, yes, but I don't like cars! I am not the intended audience for that function! When you try to be all things to all people, you lose the wonderful specificities that inform identity. Bottom line: Miley Cyrus, Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart and Zac Efron don't have jackshit to do with the Academy Awards. Its organizers should think about that for just a moment.

That is all.

1 comment:

Simon said...

Very good point...why can't we just leave the Oscars to it's intended audience? Why is it all about ratings?