For 75 years, the Academy Awards have served as the pinnacle awards show for Hollywood and its movies. For the past 50, television audiences have tuned in to watch their favorite stars schmooze on the red carpet while dressed in their luxurious gowns, then gather together to recognize their peers' accomplishments in a night of frivolity and excitement. Too bad they missed out on all that this year.
This past Sunday night, the 75th Academy Awards were overshadowed by the continuing War on Iraq on essentially every level, draining considerable energy out of a ceremony that was supposed to distract us from the destruction taking place in the Middle East. The Oscars plodded along slowly and without much fanfare or suspense until the final half hour when the major awards were handed out. Considering the annual event had reached its 75th anniversary, the celebration was far from entertaining and at times downright boring.
Comedian Steve Martin hosted the awards for the second time in three years and wasted his opening monologue with unfunny one-liners on the war, followed by a "roast" of sorts on the countless movie stars of then and now. His insults ranged from incredibly random to horribly stupid, like when Martin said, "Mickey Rooney is as old as the Earth." That's third grade level humor. Throughout the night, Martin's jokes just went flat, inspiring a great unintentional comedy moment when after one failed bit, the camera panned to Jennifer Lopez and her fianc?© Ben Affleck as the two shared shrugged shoulders in a state of utter confusion. For all the weight the Oscars have on Hollywood, one would think that they could get better writers for the show so that even Ben Affleck could understand a joke.
There seems to be some disease associated with celebrity where once an actor becomes famous, he or she feels that his or her opinion on world affairs actually matters to the rest of the country. For the most part, award presenters or winners kept their thoughts to themselves, and when they did chose to share their feelings, it was usually heartfelt and genuine. Chris Cooper, upon winning the Best Supporting Award for his role as an orchid hunter in Adaptation, voiced his desire for peace in a respectable fashion. Also, as Adrien Brody gave his acceptance speech for the Best Actor award, he spoke beautifully on his experience in portraying pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman in the Warsaw ghetto in World War II and how he prays for "peace and a swift resolution" to the war in Iraq and to bring his friend in the military home.
While these two men spoke softly yet powerfully, Michael Moore, upon deservedly winning the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature for Bowling for Columbine, took charge of the microphone and instead of thanking those who helped him, went on a diatribe against the Bush administration. "We live in fictitious times with fictitious election results with a fictitious President sending us to war for fictitious reasons," Moore proclaimed against an onslaught of boos. "Shame on you Mr. Bush, shame on you! Your term is up!" His angry demeanor surely livened up the awards ceremony, but served as a reminder on how politics and the Oscars should truly be separate.
Moore's speech was the most exciting moment of the ceremony for the first two and a half hours, as all the lesser awards were passed out during this time. Other than Chicago's dominance in the technical awards (costume, art design, etc... ), there were barely any surprises as Catherine Zeta-Jones and Cooper both won their respective awards for Best Supporting Actress and Actor, as expected. The award for Best Song had the potential to be a thrilling competition, if only Eminem had chosen to show up and perform "Lose Yourself." Instead, no one performed the rap piece, and when he won the award over U2 and Paul Simon, and one of "Marshall's" friends, co-composer Luis Resto, came and accepted the award on his behalf. Eminem even missed out on the possible awkward experience of accepting the award from Barbra Streisand, the yin to Eminem's yang in the music business. Something tells me that he won't be putting "Music written and sung by Oscar winner Eminem" on his next album.
The ceremony came close to redeeming itself as a wholly rewarding evening as Adrian Brody pulled one of the greatest upsets in recent Oscar history by beating out accomplished actors Daniel Day-Lewis and Jack Nicholson for the Best Actor award for his role in The Pianist. Brody was so taken aback that not only did he audibly utter "Holy s-t," as his name was called, but that he also laid a huge wet kiss on presenter Halle Berry in a moment that was reminiscent of Al Gore and Tipper at the Democratic Convention in 2000.
Yet another surprise was the awarding of the Best Director award for The Pianist to Roman Polanski. For those uninformed on Hollywood's most ignominious director, Mr. Polanski fled the country in the mid 1970s after he was convicted of statutory rape of a 13 year old girl and he has resided in exile ever since. I hope other people caught the subtle irony in Harrison Ford presenting the award to Polanski (who of course could not make it to the show), seeing how the 61-year-old Ford brought the 39-year-old Calista Flockhart to the ceremony with him. Polanski and Brody's victories brought an unexpected suspense to the Best Picture race, as Chicago's hold on the award seemed to loosen as the night went on. Yet, Oscar predictability prevailed, and Chicago took home the golden statue.
On a night when the country was preoccupied by the events overseas, the Oscars reflected the national sentiment. While it could have risen above the war and provided a night full of exciting entertainment, it seems neither the stars nor the producers had the heart to make a try at it. There were no fancy gowns or great musical productions, and the overtures made at attempting to recognize 75 years of Oscar fell flat. Even with a few surprise winners here and there, the Oscars were subdued and introspective, something Hollywood has a hard time doing well.
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