I'm doing an interesting double feature on Friday. First I'll be seeing "Solaris" dir. Andrei Tarkovsky by myself, and then I'll walk across town and see "Marry Me" dir. Kat Coiro with another person. Lol I wish I could see Solaris with another person Marry Me by myself.
I always liked the description of the Oscars as a very expensive night where (mostly white) famous millionaires give each other gold statues... so that the winners can charge many times more than scale for their work. It also helps promote movies. Other than marketing, award shows serve no purpose.
They used to be wildly entertaining (Any time Billy Crystal hosted, for example)... but no one really cares anymore.
Do the Oscars matter to the general public? It's an industry thing... and it's gotten obscene in its crassness, as a tone deaf celebration of excessive consumption.
While the world is dying from climate change, and people are dying across the globe from a relentless pandemic... the Oscars seem too self-congratulatory and out of touch. imho.
My question, I guess is--what does making a big production of this event actually do? What purpose does it serve?
Is there worth is recognizing quality work? Yes, certainly. Thus I think the awards, in and of themselves are worthwhile.
There are the obvious PR benefits for the industry at large and the nominated films--basically free advertising and a signal of quality. Increased visibility of the people in the industry.
I have never quite been sure of the role or the interest level of the general audience in this--particularly as movie viewership has shifted in the digital age.
The reality is that I think it IS largely a niche property and really always has been (at least with respect to the awards and accompanying speeches). I would tend to think that there is more interest in the red carpet before the actual awards and watching the celebrities during the awards, than in the actual awards themselves... oh and the chance to complain about or celebrate the political aspect of it. IOW, more grift for the wheels of the culture wars.
But that is my take on it. I have studied literary and film criticism... but I am not sure that the general audience actually cares much about those things, in and of themselves.
I think there's something positive in recognizing work that people haven't necessarily had a chance to see; the Oscars are a great *sorting* mechanism in a way, narrowing down the hundreds of choices for those interested in getting beyond the multiplex. The argument for at least nodding toward some of the bigger budget stuff (e.g., DUNE and NO WAY HOME) is that you then convince some portion of the masses to see some portion of the better, smaller movies. That's not nothing!
I am in general agreement that it will increase viewership of certain things that perhaps should be seen and in the general recognition of both quality and diversity (in the sense of showing people options they were not aware of as to things that might be worth a look)... TBH, though, a nomination or award is not something that will general move ME to do so... I am more likely to be moved by something that someone like yourself has written or said.
I believe that the Oscars have value on a few levels (as has been noted here)--I am not convinced that the show is necessarily something that can be maintained in a changing entertainment culture as a major event. This has less to do, I think, with the inherent value of the thing and more to do with the entertainment level of it.
and watching most of the speeches is actively painful to me as they are generally so bad (I used to teach public speaking at University). THAT is one of my major turn offs for the whole thing ;)
I'm doing an interesting double feature on Friday. First I'll be seeing "Solaris" dir. Andrei Tarkovsky by myself, and then I'll walk across town and see "Marry Me" dir. Kat Coiro with another person. Lol I wish I could see Solaris with another person Marry Me by myself.
I always liked the description of the Oscars as a very expensive night where (mostly white) famous millionaires give each other gold statues... so that the winners can charge many times more than scale for their work. It also helps promote movies. Other than marketing, award shows serve no purpose.
They used to be wildly entertaining (Any time Billy Crystal hosted, for example)... but no one really cares anymore.
Do the Oscars matter to the general public? It's an industry thing... and it's gotten obscene in its crassness, as a tone deaf celebration of excessive consumption.
While the world is dying from climate change, and people are dying across the globe from a relentless pandemic... the Oscars seem too self-congratulatory and out of touch. imho.
My question is, should we save the Oscars?
Or should it be anything other than a niche property appealing to 15M or so folks?
My question, I guess is--what does making a big production of this event actually do? What purpose does it serve?
Is there worth is recognizing quality work? Yes, certainly. Thus I think the awards, in and of themselves are worthwhile.
There are the obvious PR benefits for the industry at large and the nominated films--basically free advertising and a signal of quality. Increased visibility of the people in the industry.
I have never quite been sure of the role or the interest level of the general audience in this--particularly as movie viewership has shifted in the digital age.
The reality is that I think it IS largely a niche property and really always has been (at least with respect to the awards and accompanying speeches). I would tend to think that there is more interest in the red carpet before the actual awards and watching the celebrities during the awards, than in the actual awards themselves... oh and the chance to complain about or celebrate the political aspect of it. IOW, more grift for the wheels of the culture wars.
But that is my take on it. I have studied literary and film criticism... but I am not sure that the general audience actually cares much about those things, in and of themselves.
I think there's something positive in recognizing work that people haven't necessarily had a chance to see; the Oscars are a great *sorting* mechanism in a way, narrowing down the hundreds of choices for those interested in getting beyond the multiplex. The argument for at least nodding toward some of the bigger budget stuff (e.g., DUNE and NO WAY HOME) is that you then convince some portion of the masses to see some portion of the better, smaller movies. That's not nothing!
I am in general agreement that it will increase viewership of certain things that perhaps should be seen and in the general recognition of both quality and diversity (in the sense of showing people options they were not aware of as to things that might be worth a look)... TBH, though, a nomination or award is not something that will general move ME to do so... I am more likely to be moved by something that someone like yourself has written or said.
I believe that the Oscars have value on a few levels (as has been noted here)--I am not convinced that the show is necessarily something that can be maintained in a changing entertainment culture as a major event. This has less to do, I think, with the inherent value of the thing and more to do with the entertainment level of it.
and watching most of the speeches is actively painful to me as they are generally so bad (I used to teach public speaking at University). THAT is one of my major turn offs for the whole thing ;)