![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I watched the Oscars last night on and off, taking glances as I had dinner with my folks. There was little reason to sit through the entire broadcast. I noticed the segment where host Chris Rock went out to a local Magic Johnson Theater location to ask the crowd, a mostly African-American crowd, if they had seen any of the major nominees. Of course they hadn't. Many of them had seen the Wayan Brother's "White Chicks".
There's a wonder if there's a disconnect between the popular movies and the artistic side of the industry, and certainly, there really isn't a problem to this, but when you have a show to produce like the oscars, this is a major concern. When few people have seen the nominees, the interest dwindles in the program. After the last time Beyonce jumps on stage, a lot of young people may tune out, not having Spiderman 2 to look forward to.
Of course the big thing is to demonize Hollywood stating that they are out of touch with middle America. People would point out that out of the major nominees this year, the subjects includes two movies that dealt with euthanasia, one about an abortionist, several womanizers, a future communist revolutionary, and a sexual revolutionary. Certainly it wasn't nominated for any of the big awards, but there was also a movie that featured a prolonged beating, torture and eventual death of a man in a rather graphic and bloody way, but that one was celebrated.
The subjects may be controversial, but they are necessary for good drama. I watched former Academy Award winner American Beauty this weekend, and was remarking that is was all about deconstruction the pretty facade of suburbia. The whole movie was trying to prove that not everything was what it seemed to be, and that no one seemed to be happy. In fact, the gay couple was the most happy, normal couple on the block. A movie like that could be praised for its drama, but vilified by those who live in all those suburban cities for casting a Payton Place pall over the idillic image they try to portray.
Often times people ask for shows like Father Knows Best to make a come back, as if that was some sort of great expression of entertainment. Have you ever watched that show? Boring. The factor is the movies that dare to address the hard issues of our day are the ones that stand the test of time, and have actual depth. There's a reason why there's something weightier about Hotel Rwanda than there was about the Paradise Hotel reality show a couple of years ago.
If people want feel good entertainment, they make that. It pays for the other stuff, or at least it's supposed to, A movie like Spiderman 2 is supposed to help make a move like Million Dollar Baby, and Sideways possible...there's still and audience there, just not as big, and maybe not the same one that went out to see White Chicks.
There's a wonder if there's a disconnect between the popular movies and the artistic side of the industry, and certainly, there really isn't a problem to this, but when you have a show to produce like the oscars, this is a major concern. When few people have seen the nominees, the interest dwindles in the program. After the last time Beyonce jumps on stage, a lot of young people may tune out, not having Spiderman 2 to look forward to.
Of course the big thing is to demonize Hollywood stating that they are out of touch with middle America. People would point out that out of the major nominees this year, the subjects includes two movies that dealt with euthanasia, one about an abortionist, several womanizers, a future communist revolutionary, and a sexual revolutionary. Certainly it wasn't nominated for any of the big awards, but there was also a movie that featured a prolonged beating, torture and eventual death of a man in a rather graphic and bloody way, but that one was celebrated.
The subjects may be controversial, but they are necessary for good drama. I watched former Academy Award winner American Beauty this weekend, and was remarking that is was all about deconstruction the pretty facade of suburbia. The whole movie was trying to prove that not everything was what it seemed to be, and that no one seemed to be happy. In fact, the gay couple was the most happy, normal couple on the block. A movie like that could be praised for its drama, but vilified by those who live in all those suburban cities for casting a Payton Place pall over the idillic image they try to portray.
Often times people ask for shows like Father Knows Best to make a come back, as if that was some sort of great expression of entertainment. Have you ever watched that show? Boring. The factor is the movies that dare to address the hard issues of our day are the ones that stand the test of time, and have actual depth. There's a reason why there's something weightier about Hotel Rwanda than there was about the Paradise Hotel reality show a couple of years ago.
If people want feel good entertainment, they make that. It pays for the other stuff, or at least it's supposed to, A movie like Spiderman 2 is supposed to help make a move like Million Dollar Baby, and Sideways possible...there's still and audience there, just not as big, and maybe not the same one that went out to see White Chicks.
