it's oscar time...

big d's random thoughts

does anyone really care? how on earth do we take an awards show and turn it into an event like the superbowl? (another rant...) i mean, it's just a bunch of awards for films that most people don't usually care about.

it seems like every year there is more discussion about how political the awards are, and how disconnected with the movie-going audience the academy has become. even so, the oscar show is a bigger deal than it should be. if we would just get wise, and not watch, maybe it would stop being such an overblown thing.

if it wasn't such a big deal, maybe then the celebrities wouldn't feel so empowered (if not obligated) to tell us what we should study in school, how we should feel about politics, which charities we should support, what styles to embrace and how ridiculous morals and religious conviction are. if we ignored them, maybe they would be more concerned with learning what we want, instead of just telling us.

don't get me wrong. i love movies. i work in the arts, including film and video. i appreciate many of the movies that win awards, and have even liked some of them. i think it's worth putting up with all the crap movies that come out of the hollywood machine, in order to see the handful of intelligent, entertaining, thought-provoking movies that manage to get made alongside the others. after all, you don't have to watch the crap if you don't want to.

my whole life, i've only shut off a couple of movies because they were so stupid they weren't worth my time. honestly, with very little effort, you can tell which ones are worth seeing, and which ones look awful. just by watching the trailers, you can tell which movies are obviously not worth watching. if the trailer has lots of potty humor and cleavage, you can probably be sure that the script is less than well written.

with a little more effort you can wade through reviews. granted most critics are either as disconnected with audiences as hollywood, or are on the payroll of some production company. even so, once you've read a few reviews, especially by critics you're familiar with, you can pick enough information out, to know whether you're likely to enjoy a movie or not. it's certainly, more reliable than just watching trailers.

i know. taking responsibility for what you watch is a crazy idea. still it's better than wasting money on crap because the studio assured you through advertising that it was the "must-see movie of the year." it is the best advice, especially if you're like me, and seem to like movies that most people hate, and hate movies most people love.

enjoy what you like, ignore what you don't. don't let the establishment tell you what is good. don't let critics tell you what is bad. but most of all, don't let the entertainment industries (film, tv, music) tell you what to think. do the research, and make an informed decision. they only have as much influence as we give them.