What can I say about last night’s dismal Oscar ceremony that hasn’t been said at least a million times over the past twelve hours? That it ended on such an embarrassing note that went beyond anything we have ever witnessed? That from the time Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway walked on stage you kind of had that feeling that something was going to go wrong? Bonnie and Clyde struck again. And who at Pricewaterhouse won’t be working the Oscar shift next year? It’s a shame and as noted above an embarrassment.
Sad thing is that by the time the event happened I really didn’t care as I had just sat through another long, unbearable Oscar ceremony with bad jokes and where the producers are more interested in sending cookies and candy into the audience and bringing in a Star Line bus tour to attend the event than they are in saluting the industry that used to be “what dreams are made of.” None of that exists anymore when it comes to Oscar. The show is as far removed from a celebration of movies as anything I have ever witnessed. This is the Academy Award show that are young folks are growing up with. A show that has all but forgotten about the men and women who created and nurtured this industry for the past century. This is a show that relies on gimmicks that promote the host’s own show. Can I say Mean Tweets and an imaginary feud with Matt Damon!!!! Johnny Carson hosted the show multiple times but I don’t recall The Mighty Carson Art Players ever making an appearance. And I like Jimmy Kimmel. Just not last night.
Here is a case in point. The In Memoriam section of the show turned into a performance piece a few years ago where instead of showing the steady stream of images of those in the industry we lost last year we now have a performer singing a song. This takes away from the folks we are trying to pay tribute to as we now become focused on the singer on stage. I don’t want to share my memories of ones who are now gone with a close up of the performer. It doesn’t matter if they are good or bad. They shouldn’t be there.
But none of the above are new. The day the Academy decided to not include the special Oscar awards on the show so we have more time for selfies being taken with celebs, pizzas being delivered to the audience and now cookies flying in on parachutes is the day I knew that the days of excitement I used to have over this show are coming to an end. Winning an Oscar is still the ultimate prize. It is an honor that will never go away or be lessened by the spectacle the show has become. So I won’t stop watching. Ever.
Even if the Best Picture of the Year should have been La La Land.
