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• Monday, March 6, 2006 05:52 PM

  Oscars not worth the waste of time

  Last night's Oscars was the first one I had decided to watch in more than 10 years. It will be the last. There was nothing there to make spending my time worthwhile. I agree with Cintra; this was one of the blandest exercises in censorship I have witnessed in a long time -- well at least since Attorney General Gonzalez last testified before Congress. It was also clear that the Oscar for Best Picture did not go to the Best Picture of the Year. One could make the case for why Brokeback Mountain might not have deserved it, but clealy Syriana, Munich, or Good Night and Good Luck were all far better than Crash. I saw Crash and enjoyed it very much, but it was not of the caliber of the other films mentioned above, and clearly wasn't better than Brokeback Mountain. The case could easily be made for why Brokeback Mountain should have been selected, if for no other reason than it is THE movie that is being talked about this year. After all, no one asked President Bush if he had seen Crash or recommended it to him as they did with Brokeback Mountain. That said, it is clear that the Academy caved in to pressure from the Culture Police to prevent the first serious gay movie with wide acclaim from being selected as the movie of the year.

  I, too, felt sad to see how Jon Stewart was hamstrung in his presentations and since I am a big fan of his, felt sorry to see him so emasculated like he was last night. It was truly painful to watch, even pathetic. On one point, I am glad to see improvement in the Oscars -- they were able to keep things on time better than they did in the past, but then again, isn't that usually a hallmark of fascist regimes? The trains run on time and they brook no opposition.

  Kinda glad I tuned in for some of the show. It was enough to let me know that this is an American institution that has passed its prime and I will no longer have to waste my time wondering if maybe I should have watched it last night. I now know that the real waste of time is to watch it in the first place.

  —owlskinner Read owlskinner's other letters
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