A Few Fleeting Thoughts About Oscar

I realize I'm about a week late with what I think about the Oscars, but anyway, here are the few fleeting thoughts that I had about the ceremony and the results.

Each year in a rush to see as many Oscar-nominated films as possible, I look forward to the Academy Awards with anticipation, skepticism, and in particularly hope. I have no engrained sentimentality about the event, at least not one that has lasted as long as many of my nostalgic sentiments about movies. Only recently—the past few years in college—have I really gained an appreciation and excitement for the Oscars, and even this year, being on a different continent and having to stay up until six in the morning, I was still committed to watching them.

The Academy Awards receives criticism from all different angles every year, whether it is from them snubbing many deserving films from nominations, or choosing the “wrong” film for Best Picture, or even if the ceremony is stale. The Oscars is what it is. It can’t always siphon down exactly the top five or ten or nine or however many films are the top films of the year; it won’t always get that right. However, it comes close, and it is important to look at the Academy Awards choices and try and figure out the ultimate significance of their choices.

The cast and crew of The Artist, directed by Michel Hazanavicius.

It is important to look at what films the Academy has chosen to recognize and what that means in the bigger picture of the film industry. That being said, if you look at the films recognized this year, you will notice a trend that has continued for a few years now. In 2009, Avatar was the biggest grossing film in the history of cinema; it ushered in a new era for 3-D filmmaking, and it made a huge impact at the Academy Awards, reaffirming the general trend and false belief that has persisted since Star Wars (that’s right—Star Wars, not the butchered version of the film renamed Star Wars: Episode VI - A New Hope,) the belief that big budget equals big success. 

Recently in Hollywood and with audiences, an affinity has grown for films packed with special effects and escapist subjects. In the past decade, since September 11^th especially but not prohibitively, there has been a surge in comic book or superhero movies, filled with special effects, and that appeal to the least common denominator. Avatar—although not from a comic—fits well into this trend, especially with its very seasoned plot that is reminiscent of Pocahontas, Dances with Wolves, and Fern Gully (to name a few.) This year, there was Martin Scorsese’s 3-D special effects giant Hugo that garnered 11 Oscar nods, but like Avatar won mostly only “technical” awards (i.e. editing, cinematography, etc.)

Iranian director, Asghar Farhadi, giving his acceptance speech for his Best Foreign Language Film, A Separation.

However, if you look at the Academy’s track record for Best Picture winners, in the past three years at least, you will notice something maybe surprising—and for me, reassuring. The last three winners have not been the huge-budgeted films that have shown box-office dominance in the past decade. In 2009, The Hurt Locker won, last year it was The King’s Speech, and this year The Artist was victorious. So it seems that there is an increased polarization in the film industry, where big budgeted films are truly dominating the box-office, but the smaller budget, more obscure films are taking home the gold.

It is interesting to note that this year’s Oscar darling, Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist, is a French, silent film. Two characteristics that are not usually recognized outside of the category for Best Foreign Language Film, yet it won Best Picture. My hope is that this year's Awards are an example of what is possible with cinema—that films can be popular and enjoyable regardless of their budget, or the stars in them, or their country origin. I hope that The Artist will help bring recognition and to more films like Asghar Farhadi's A Separation (the Iranian winner of Best Foreign Language Film). I hope that it will help open the minds of American movie audiences so that more people show an interest in and understanding of—not just the movie industry, but—the rest of the world too.