Every year, there are two guarantees: taxes and the Oscars will disappoint.
Yes, somehow every late February, the Academy takes four hours of ABC screen time to build audiences up and then make them vow to never watch again. Already, the Internet is crying out that this year’s show was the worst Oscars ever.
OK, so maybe we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves there. It’s easy to get caught up in the weird segues and strange host behavior and forget that we’ve seen worse. In 1995, David Letterman took the stage and spent four hours forgetting how to be funny. Worse yet, in 1989, Rob Lowe did a duet with Snow White that probably made Walt Disney regret ever developing the character.
This year’s show definitely wasn’t the worst of all time. However, it did make me wonder if the A’s in AARP stand for Academy Awards.
Before the show began, it seemed primed to be one of the youngest skewed Oscars in ages. The hosts, James Franco and Anne Hathaway, were mainly picked for their popularity among younger audiences, and many of the big categories featured potential winners that played well with younger audiences. If you were under the age of 40, it was almost a guarantee that you loved “Inception,” and perhaps no film has better reflected our modern zeitgeist than “The Social Network.”
With “The Social Network,” “Inception,” and even “Black Swan,” it was a glorious chance for the Oscars to demonstrate they are hip and cool without having to sell out. It wouldn’t have been like last year’s transparent attempt to connect with mainstream audiences by nominating “The Blind Side” for Best Picture.
Of course, being presented a golden opportunity, the Academy completely ignored it and went for bland, predictable and old.
The show itself was somewhat of a disaster. The attempts at connecting with younger audiences completely failed. Hathaway acted as though she had chugged a 12-pack of Red Bull backstage, whereas Franco seemed to have chugged a 12-pack of Nyquil.
Other attempts to snag young viewers, such as an auto-tune montage, just seemed forced, as though the mom from “Mean Girls” had put it together.
That could have been forgiven, however, if the show’s awards reflected the youthful, inventive and unique films on display in 2010. Alas, “The King’s Speech” won the big award, pleasing anyone over the age of 50 still watching after 10 p.m.
It should be said that “The King’s Speech” is not a terrible film by any stretch. Colin Firth’s award-winning performance was easily the best male performance of the year, and it’s a very pleasant movie-watching experience. The Academy voters wanted comfortable, and “The King’s Speech” was right in their wheel house.
Tragically, when the comfortable and predictable get rewarded, the innovative and unique get left behind. “The Social Network” had perhaps the best screenplay of the past decade and clearly dissected our disconnected tech culture. “Black Swan” was one of the best thrillers in years, truly throwing audiences into the mind of its disoriented main character. “Toy Story 3,” quite simply, was magical in its ability to make you cry for chunks of talking plastic.
This is where the future of film is. It’s too bad the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences isn’t on board.
