Tuesday, February 26, 2013

tarnished


The curious turn taken this year by the usually stuffy, self-important Oscarcast probably warrants psychoanalysis more than critical analysis.

Perhaps weary of being unfavorably compared to the Golden Globes party, with its irresistible frissons, and cognizant of its own dwindling credibility, Oscar decided the most expedient route to the popularity it so desperately covets would be self-debasement and, to a degree, self-loathing.

Fine. Anything that produces results. The show was crude and rude, gleefully so, and it willfully pursued every -ism in the book. Fine.

The problem, however, was that none of it was remotely funny.

The 2013 Oscars was the awards-show equivalent of a conflicted, sexually ambiguous teenage boy: Am I gay? Or am I straight? Do I prefer “boobs”? (To borrow a word from the title of the man-cave song-and-dance extravaganza that set the show’s insecure tone.) Or do I prefer the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles? (Another of the show's “huh?” moments.)

The result was an Oscarcast that was more than just routinely awful. It was embarrassing and pathetic in its dazed quest for validation.

In retrospect, the most recent Golden Globes presentation, with Tine Fey and Amy Poehler, had the sophistication of a Cole Porter lyric.

4 comments:

squibbles said...

agree! Not to mention the Star Trek routine, the years-old song which Catherine Zeta-Jones clearly lipsynched (only reason it was in because the producers were the same), and the many other segments that were all unconnected to each other. No theme. Now I'm wondering why I enjoyed the movie "Ted" so much - must have been all Mark Wahlberg.

Alex said...

I love how the powers behind the Academy is standing behind McFarlan's juvenile performance but quickly distanced themselves from Chris Rock when he hosted and dared to go "too far."

Jane said...

I Agree completely. Someone thought the host (who I never heard of) was edgy and hilarious. I was missing Bob Hope. Now he had class. Even Billy Crystal was good. The whole thing is so over-the-top and the emphasis on the gowns,on,y a few of which were tasteful and elegant.

Kevin Deany said...

Amen, sir, amen. The Bond tribute was beyond hopeless. There's more to Bond than chases and explosions. I recall the montages at the Oscars used to be much better - they were a real celebration of film. Now, they look like they were put together in a blender.

And I really wish they would bring the honorary Oscar presentation back. A sincere speech where no one thanks a dozen people would be a breath of fresh air.

I really think the Oscars should raise the bar higher and be more classier than the typical awards show. But we seem to be in the minority.