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Show of hands ...
Mar. 6th, 2006 12:52 am1. Who else thinks Jon Stewart is going to wring a lot of immediate material for "The Daily Show" out of the Best Song Oscar winner? He seemed highly amused by the whole thing. (I've heard the song before - rather than serious, it strikes me as wholly ironic in both execution and lyrics. For one, you've got a female singer sympathizing how it's hard for a pimp "when the wenches are jumpin' ship." AND it's ostensibly trying to get solidarity out of a listening audience that would have a worse existence than said pimp, to have to maintain and pay for. It's like Bush cutting a track titled "It's Hard Out Here For A Privileged White Boy.")
2. I'm not so upset that "Brokeback Mountain" didn't win The Big Prize. It won for Director and Screenplay, which I think proves the Academy wasn't shutting it out or simply placating its makers. I haven't seen "Crash" yet but I have read what it's about, and honestly, broad themes of racism and intolerance resonate with a lot more people than the heartaches of homosexuality (yeah, I know BBM was just an old story of unrequited love with a gender twist, but a lot of people aren't savvy enough to understand that - they just see the "gay cowboy" movie). I don't doubt gay people know what discrimination feels like, but generally, you have to identify yourself somehow as gay before that happens - if you're black or female or too short, or have a "weird" accent, it's immediately apparent and can work against you just as badly in the wrong segments of society, and MANY people know what that's like.
Too, I think BBM might profit better from not winning. The fact it exists, that it was made and became such a cultural watchword across a broad population has at least piqued the interest of some people who might not've been interested before in learning more about things from a homosexual man's POV. Had it won at this point, I could see a lot of naysayers rolling their eyes and going "Oh those Hollywood liberals, I knew that'd happen." Far from opening the door for more homosexual-themed films, the attitude might have been "You've had your 15 minutes, don't expect any more" whereas now more such films can be made to try to attain The Big Prize.
2. I'm not so upset that "Brokeback Mountain" didn't win The Big Prize. It won for Director and Screenplay, which I think proves the Academy wasn't shutting it out or simply placating its makers. I haven't seen "Crash" yet but I have read what it's about, and honestly, broad themes of racism and intolerance resonate with a lot more people than the heartaches of homosexuality (yeah, I know BBM was just an old story of unrequited love with a gender twist, but a lot of people aren't savvy enough to understand that - they just see the "gay cowboy" movie). I don't doubt gay people know what discrimination feels like, but generally, you have to identify yourself somehow as gay before that happens - if you're black or female or too short, or have a "weird" accent, it's immediately apparent and can work against you just as badly in the wrong segments of society, and MANY people know what that's like.
Too, I think BBM might profit better from not winning. The fact it exists, that it was made and became such a cultural watchword across a broad population has at least piqued the interest of some people who might not've been interested before in learning more about things from a homosexual man's POV. Had it won at this point, I could see a lot of naysayers rolling their eyes and going "Oh those Hollywood liberals, I knew that'd happen." Far from opening the door for more homosexual-themed films, the attitude might have been "You've had your 15 minutes, don't expect any more" whereas now more such films can be made to try to attain The Big Prize.
