Dartblog

Every year I do a cynical and ornery post on the movie business and its award ceremonies. Here it is.

The Los Angeles Times, like everyone under the hot L.A. Lovin’ sun except the event’s producers, is bearish on the Academy Awards ceremony. For the uninitiated, the Academy Awards—often referred to as the “Oscars” so that advertising material can anthropomorphically claim that “Oscar is excited!” or “Oscar is coming!” or, this year, “Oscar continues his desperate search for relevancy!”—is an annual ceremony wherein the people who work for giant entertainment corporations give quids to their friends who also work at said giant entertainment corporations, and who then proceed to give quos in return. Also, you get to underwrite this thunderdome of narcissism, via the opportunity cost of not seeing anything decent on television that night.

If you’ve got your scorecard in front of you, mark down ‘1’. That’s the total number of industries in America which invade 300 million domiciles around dinnertime to wag their finger at you about how good they are and how you really ought to be taking them seriously.

But, hey, they make it fun. Hollywood is often criticized for offering forth a board of fare that is exclusively leftist, generally not-too-fond of any part of America that doesn’t boast a significant Volvo-driving population, and for being staffed by egotistical megalomaniacs who, once they slither into our popular culture through either a large chest or a really good ability to whisper dramatically, try to dictate unto their peons how to live and for whom to vote. This year, Oscar has changed his ways. For the host, you see, is Jon Stewart.