What does it say that the Oscars ended a little over an hour ago and I'm already over them? And I actually liked a lot of the movies that were nominated this year. A few things we can learn from tonight's ceremony:
In: Anti-Racism, Rap, Reese Witherspoon
Five-Minutes Ago: Anti-Homophobia, Country, Joaquin Phoenix
Out: Everything that didn't win. Sorry, suckas.
As for the two surprises of the evening:
Best Picture: Crash - A Very Important Movie, with a Very Important Message. The Academy loves to promote itself (how many times can they encourage people not to bother with DVD's? Message: TV is too small and pedestrian for the Big Ideas we promote with movies). Awarding either Brokeback Mountain or Crash would assure the Academy that they're socially relevant, but the anti-racism message in Crash is a universal, airtight political message, whereas the anti-homophobia message supposedly promoted by a Brokeback win would be attacked as pushing a trendy liberal "agenda." Crash wins!
Some people might also say that Crash is simply the better film, but I disagree. Brokeback isn't flawless. I, like many, was bored when it started to drag in the middle. But it was also more than just a Very Important Message; it was a love story, and a beautifully told one at that. Meanwhile, Crash was nothing but a two-hour Message. By the end, it was overwrought and manipulative, as if the writer was in love with his clever (i.e. gimmicky) script.
Best Original Song: "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from Hustle & Flow - While I was rooting for Dolly Parton's "Travelin' Thru" from Transamerica (how happy did she seem when performing on stage? I would love to get drunk on mint juleps with her, she seems like so much fun), I can understand why "Pimp" won. You could cynically argue that it again lets the Academy promote themselves as hip and socially aware (see above; although Eminem's "Lose Yourself" from 8 Mile was actually the first rap song to win an Oscar, he didn't perform on the awards show).
Article comments
1 - Ty
I don't think that the Academy is trying to "prove" it's not racist with its awards to African-Americans over the last few years, the best people are winning.
The Hustle & Flow soundtrack is really good. In fact, I think the best song is "Whoop That Trick," but there is no way the academy would ever nominate such a song, so they went with the Pimp song.
You wanna know what IS racist and BIASED?
QUEEN LATIFAH. I am SHOCKED no one here is mentioning her reading of who got the award. She was so god-damned excited that it makes you wonder if she would have been just as excited if Dolly Parton would have won (she wouldn't because she's biased and is thrilled to see a black rap group win an Oscar). She can show her enthusiasm when she gives "head" to the male members of the 3-6 Mafia, but she need not go overboard on stage.
2 - -E
Considering that's the same line of music she is in, I can understand some enthusiasm. It is a huge leap for hip hop to have been performed at the Oscars, let alone to win. And without the Brokeback song in the mix, 3-6 Mafia's song really was the best one.
I enjoyed the tributes to various genres in film through the ages. They were far from pointless.
3 - Don Baiocchi
I can't really tell if the first line of your comment is a reaction to my article or not, since I didn't say anything about the Academy giving awards to African-Americans the last few years. If that's in reference to people like Jaime Foxx, Halle Berry and Denzel Washington winning recently, I would agree with you (Morgan Freeman, on the other hand, received what basically was a make-up award since he hadn't won one yet, whereas Clive Owen was more deserving that year for Closer).
I was saying that the two front-runners for Best Picture were both Socially Conscious Message movies (the caps are intentional), but the anti-racist message of Crash is a safer message to endorse than the anti-homophobia message of a Brokeback win. Plus, it helps that like half of L.A. worked on Crash, so it had a lot of support from the voters who do the voting (i.e. if the voter himself didn't work on the film, he probably had a friend who did).
The Hustle & Flow soundtrack is really good, and while "Whoop That Trick" is a good song, I still prefer the insanely catchy "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp."
Interesting point about Queen Latifah. Although it's not as if that was the first time a presenter has shown their excitement when announcing the winner.
4 - Ty
"It is a huge leap for hip hop to have been performed at the Oscars, let alone to win"
Eminem already took home an oscar for a rap song, so I don't think it's a huge leap. Latifah is extremely biased and showed it. She showed up the other nominees.
Yes others in the past have shown excitement over a winner, but this was to the extreme.
5 - -E
I think there is a difference between Eminem's "rap" and the rest of the world's hip hop.
6 - Don Baiocchi
-E, I disagree about the tributes. The ceremony was all about how it's better to watch movies on the big screen rather than on DVD at home, so they show us clips from epic movies that look good on big screens, on an awards show that we watch on TV. Doesn't that defeat the point?
7 - Sister Ray
Ty, that was an uncalled-for remark about Queen Latifah. I'm white and I don't think she was being racist, just happy.
8 - Ty
Sister Ray, your remark about my remark was uncalled for.
I watched her announcement several times and noticed she was a bit too happy.
Show your extra- happiness all you want, BACKSTAGE AND AT OSCAR PARTIES.
While on stage, she should keep it to a minimum. What she said and how she said still resonates with me, in a negative manner.
9 - NR Davis
Mr. Baiocchi, thanks for validating my opinion on the Best Picture matter. On another similarly themed thread, I opined that Crash may have beaten Brokeback Mountain because it's easier for mainstreamers to say "racism is band" than "homophobia is bad" and was chastised and belittled for it. Thanks for making me feel a little less alone in my thinking.
10 - Don Baiocchi
Mr. Davis, I'm sorry you were chastised and belittled for your actions? Which thread was it? I'll go over there and take care of business...
Seriously, though, it's not exactly a radical theory or even an uncommon one. I'm surprised that it would be so unwelcome.
11 - Sister Ray
It was the "head" part of your remark I objected to.
12 - El Bicho
"I opined that Crash may have beaten Brokeback Mountain..."
Reread the thread. You didn't qualify it like that. It was the sole reason Crash won.
13 - Christopher Taylor
On "Best Song." You have to be kidding. Although I like RAP and understand it has AN IMPORTANT place in defining parts of music culture, I cannot believe that "It's Hard for a Pimp," won. This song has very little meaning or relativity to most persons...maybe even a little hard to understand. Transamerica took a very "swept-under-the-rug" subject and handled it with dignity, nostalgia, and humor. Dolly Parton's song basically tied it all up in a nice package...the cherry on the top if you will. The woman is a seasoned veteran still hitting the charts and influencing many genres of music in our country. The song deserved to win for so many reasons. Now instead of making people look a second time at the subject of transgendered liftestyles, with perhaps a bit more sympathy and understanding, we set our sites on the poor Pimps and why it's so hard for them on the streets. No, in my opinion that award was nothing more than to appease and to give the impression that the Academy supports the African American culture. It's interesting to note that this category is one of the few which ALL members of the Academy can vote on. Basically, this opens it up for votes by persons that wouldn't know a good song if it bit them in the vocal chords. Thanks!
14 - Don Baiocchi
Chris, I agree with some of your points. "Travelin' Thru" is a really good song, Dolly is a great, deserving songwriter and performer and had it won I would have been very happy for her and the movie. I'm not sure it's the job of the Academy to use Best Song to make a political statement.
Conversely, "Pimp" is not about how it's actually hard for pimps in general, and I doubt that since the song won the Academy is saying we should have more sympathy for them. If you see the movie, you would understand that (I know this is hard to believe) this is a very personal song about one specific pimp's experience. It doesn't even necessarily make him sympathetic, but you do see how important the self-expression in this song is to him. And truly, a huge part of the film revolves around this song, whereas Dolly's song is just tacked on to the end of her film.
Since this is a film award, the fact that this song was a huge part of a film they obviously liked (Terrence Howard was nominated, and in a very tough, crowded, competitive field this year) could have helped push it over the edge.
It's too bad the performance, however, was so jumbled and over-the-top. It didn't really do the song justice. I'm not saying I love it, but it was better than how they showed it.
To be honest, I'm not even saying I agree with their decision, I'm just saying I think I understand it, and I think it's not necessarily trying to appease African-Americans. This is a song category in a ceremony for films, and this was the song that was most essential to its film.
15 - Zaja
queen latifah can blow it out her ass. she sucked off my boyfriend. whore.
16 - maryann
you too?!? she did the same shit to me, girl she's trippin'.
17 - Suzanne
Geez, you guys. The Queen would NEVER do that to anyone, she's pure royality. U.N.I.T.Y!! get over yourselves. The Queen is beautiful..besides, she's a lesbian.