Brokebacklash?
Sheesh. That's the last time I go on record with predictions.
I suppose I could have done worse—I got both lead acting awards, best adapted screenplay, best director, best documentary film and some of the lesser categories. But I missed everything else, and was completely blindsided by some choices.
When they announced that Crash won best picture, I was speechless. It was beyond disappointment, I was just stunned.
In retrospect, it shouldn't have been such a shock. Apparently people who liked Crash feel very strongly about it, and Roger Ebert had been campaigning that it should be named Best Picture. In my Oscars pool, 12 of the 15 entrants had Brokeback, but the other three had Crash. I've spoken to people who like and dislike both movies, and even though I thought Brokeback was the much better film, it could be that more people simply liked Crash better, and the politics of the films weren't a factor.
Of course, it's also possible that the politics were a factor. Crash may well have gotten the nod because the gay cowboy thing still makes some people nervous. Even if the Academy members are probably an accepting and progressive group when it comes to gay rights, maybe they saw choosing Brokeback as Best Picture as too bold a statement; it's possible that they got nervous about being perceived as being too far outside of mainstream America. (George Clooney even addressed this point, in a more general way, in his acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor.) It's true that, like Brokeback, Crash is also a socially conscious film, but being against racism is a much safer statement than endorsing gay rights.
America may still have a long way to go in solving its racial issues, but it's an issue that has been dealt with in film and other forms of pop-culture for decades. Crash would have been cutting edge—and the statement it made would have been more important and original—in the early '70s, when "All in the Family" was dealing with similar issues on tv. But that was over thirty years ago, and since then we have made a lot of progress. If nothing else, our society is in a place where it's become a cliche to say that "racism is bad." We've seen and heard so much about that issue that even racists no doubt realize that their views place them outside of the mainstream.
In terms of the acceptance of homosexuality, our society isn't nearly as advanced; we're still more-or-less at the "All in the Family" stage. Arguing that homosexuality is acceptable is somewhat controversial in a country that has states where 90 percent of voters chose to ban same-sex marriages.
Last night one of my friends argued that minorities can't hide who they are as easily as, say, a gay white man, and because of that may be more protected from racism. But look at it this way: who would get more looks walking into a restaurant: a mixed race couple holding hands, or two men holding hands?
With all the post-game spin that we're sure to hear about Oscar rewarding a film with a socially conscious message, it still seems to me that the Academy took the easy way out. They rewarded Crash, an inferior film with a tired message, rather than making a truly bold statement.
I shouldn't be surprised, but I am disappointed.
I suppose I could have done worse—I got both lead acting awards, best adapted screenplay, best director, best documentary film and some of the lesser categories. But I missed everything else, and was completely blindsided by some choices.
When they announced that Crash won best picture, I was speechless. It was beyond disappointment, I was just stunned.
In retrospect, it shouldn't have been such a shock. Apparently people who liked Crash feel very strongly about it, and Roger Ebert had been campaigning that it should be named Best Picture. In my Oscars pool, 12 of the 15 entrants had Brokeback, but the other three had Crash. I've spoken to people who like and dislike both movies, and even though I thought Brokeback was the much better film, it could be that more people simply liked Crash better, and the politics of the films weren't a factor.
Of course, it's also possible that the politics were a factor. Crash may well have gotten the nod because the gay cowboy thing still makes some people nervous. Even if the Academy members are probably an accepting and progressive group when it comes to gay rights, maybe they saw choosing Brokeback as Best Picture as too bold a statement; it's possible that they got nervous about being perceived as being too far outside of mainstream America. (George Clooney even addressed this point, in a more general way, in his acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor.) It's true that, like Brokeback, Crash is also a socially conscious film, but being against racism is a much safer statement than endorsing gay rights.
America may still have a long way to go in solving its racial issues, but it's an issue that has been dealt with in film and other forms of pop-culture for decades. Crash would have been cutting edge—and the statement it made would have been more important and original—in the early '70s, when "All in the Family" was dealing with similar issues on tv. But that was over thirty years ago, and since then we have made a lot of progress. If nothing else, our society is in a place where it's become a cliche to say that "racism is bad." We've seen and heard so much about that issue that even racists no doubt realize that their views place them outside of the mainstream.
In terms of the acceptance of homosexuality, our society isn't nearly as advanced; we're still more-or-less at the "All in the Family" stage. Arguing that homosexuality is acceptable is somewhat controversial in a country that has states where 90 percent of voters chose to ban same-sex marriages.
Last night one of my friends argued that minorities can't hide who they are as easily as, say, a gay white man, and because of that may be more protected from racism. But look at it this way: who would get more looks walking into a restaurant: a mixed race couple holding hands, or two men holding hands?
With all the post-game spin that we're sure to hear about Oscar rewarding a film with a socially conscious message, it still seems to me that the Academy took the easy way out. They rewarded Crash, an inferior film with a tired message, rather than making a truly bold statement.
I shouldn't be surprised, but I am disappointed.
posted by Zackattack at 11:21 AM
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