Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The Oscars... And Awards Shows in General



 

     This is almost 2 weeks over due... better late than never I suppose.

     I am, in my opinion at least, a well rounded nerd. Part of that, to me at least, requires an awareness of trends and popular things in our culture today. What better way than awards shows?

     Now, I have said before that I try to keep my personal politics off of the Nerdy content. It should be stated again though. I would rather try to keep the conversation cordial and fun, and the only politics should be in the vein of DC VS Marvel. Though it would be naive of me to not acknowledge the politics of this year's awards season, and how they may or may not agree with my personal views.

     I think I will start with the Oscars and word backwards.

     The Oscars have always been a political vehicle. The Academy is full of actors and "Hollywood types" who are notoriously left leaning. HARD left. That fact may have never been more painfully obvious than the 89th Academy Awards. EVERY acceptance speech had something to say about our current administration. As well as most of the jokes told on stage and many of the skits that took place in between awards. Some of them were appropriate, but most of them were uninformed and illogical. With the vast resources at the finger tips of celebrities (being as they have more money than any other joe-six-pack) you would think they would be more well informed and educated.

     The biggest let down, I feel, for this year's Oscars Ceremony is its pure lack of memorable moments. There are only three that come to mind as I write. First, Jimmy Kimmel bringing that bus full of tourists through the middle of the show. Second, Suicide Squad winning best make-up over Star Trek (seriously???). And Third, the Steve Harvey worthy ending. The rest of the show was really nothing more than a bunch of rich people jerking each other off and "protesting" a president, who in actuality is not going to effect ANY of them because of their social status. I guess there was a fourth, the realization that whomever was directing the broadcast of the ceremony was possibly more amateurish than me, and I don't have a million dollar budget behind me.

     Back one more awards show. The Grammys. Probably the only awards show I wasn't bored to tears by this season. I even agreed with about half of the winners. The endless humor I found in them playing a Metallica song as Dave Mustaine walked to receive his award was only put off by the horrendous abomination of the Metallica and Lady Gaga performance. (I mean really... what did the director or choreographer tell Gaga they wanted? Every stereotypical "rocker chick" pose she could think of, and to transition between each of them as awkwardly as possible?) The Chainsmokers lost to Chance the Rapper, which was good. Possibly the best part of the show though was Daft Punk performing with The Weekend. This was truly the highlight of the season so far, unless your name is James Hetfield, that dude got HEATED after his performance and did not have a good night.

     Back one more, brings us to the SAG Awards. This is possibly the ceremony that made me want to write this piece the most. The SAGs were the height of the soap box speeches given to us from Hollywood. As with the Oscars, EVERY acceptance speech was taking a shot at the current President. Had any of the, very few, right leaning Hollywood types taken such pot shots at the previous president none of them would work again. Even though one could argue that the previous president committed much more heinous acts while in office than restricting the movements of immigrants.

     And the final show that really stuck out this year was the Golden Globes. The now infamous speech given by Meryl Streep. Showing us just how uninformed Hollywood really is. Her offense that a presidential candidate would mock a disabled person was disgusting. It was revealed, on television even, that Trump mocks EVERYONE like that. Even himself. That was his "mock voice/demeanor". Everyone has one, that was his. The fact that she ignored that shows her ignorance.

     The point I am trying to make here is simple. While it is totally acceptable to have an opinion, and even to express that opinion publicly, if you are an entertainer that opinion should not be the focus of your professional life. You are an entertainer, ENTERTAIN! Don't think that because we pay money to watch you act on screen or sing a song, that you represent any of us.

No comments:

Post a Comment