Oscar Rant

The Academy Awards came out with their awards for 2005 films this past weekend, and the controversy began when “Crash” won the Best Picture Oscar over “Brokeback Mountain.” In the aftermath of it all, what this has turned out to be is not really about the movies themselves, but the issues they represent. According to most news sources (see link below), America is “homophobic” because it won’t select a movie about gay cowboys to win Best Picture, but rather a movie about racism. All of the top nominated films covered controversial issues, and yet only those issues raised in “Brokeback Mountain” are the ones the media really cares for. Why? Of all the articles I’ve perused I have not seen one reference to a “controversial” loss by the other Best Picture nominees. Not even “Capote” that features a gay main character showed mention in these slanderings of a “homophobic” Academy. So why does “Brokeback Mountain” hold more clout than these other films in terms of the issues addressed? Maybe it’s not necessarily a topic of issue, but a topic of quality of picture. “Brokeback Mountain” gets more attention because it’s a better film then “Capote.” Maybe. Maybe not. But then who’s to say “Crash” wasn’t the better film?

Ultimately, the truth here is subjective to the opinions of the moviegoers and the Academy. I’m not really certain what all the fuss is about since these awards hardly acknowledge the dichotomy of mainstream cinema. For the most part, the movies that win these awards are not the same movies that the majority of the population sees in their local theaters. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that these awards are steadily relying on independent films to create the “good” movies, while we locally watch the “mega-buck crap” each studio is pumping out for profits. This is the direction Hollywood is going and it is becoming increasingly difficult for those who live outside of New York or Los Angeles to see what is slowly becoming the reliable, quality movies. What these award shows highlight are not a year’s achievements in cinema, but rather a small sampling of what a few individuals.

Ultimately Roger Ebert comes up with a better discourse on the topic than I can present here in my befuddled mind. The links below will take you to his article on the situation and to a summary page of other article’s comments. My take on the issue is that these controversial films box you in a corner where you’re forced to either extol the movie because of the issue, or become phobic. I saw both “Crash” and “Brokeback Mountain” and I just liked one over the other regardless of the issues. It’s as simple as that, and that’s all it should come down to.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060306/SCANNERS/60306004

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060306/OSCARS/603070301