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It’s only frustrating if you think of the Academy Awards as representing actual judgments of quality instead of as polls listing which performances and movies a certain sample of people liked best.
Except for the fact that the Academy actively presents their awards as representative of judgments of quality & not as popularity contest within Academy members. So I think it’s inherently frustrating, if you take the awards on the terms the Academy intends for us to take them.
When I lived in LA & was pounding pavement to be a Working Actor(tm) in the early 1990s, I had a number of friends who worked for the Academy; some in the library, some in other positions. (The cool part is we could get into Academy-only screenings of movies for free. I saw Terminator 2 with Abe Vigoda! Ahem.) Per the folks I knew, it was very clear to members in the Academy that they were making choices based on popularity rather than judgments of quality. It was even encouraged that they make their votes from their hearts, effectively based them in sentimentality, rather than based on the achievement of the performance or technical merit. That’s when we recognized it was agenda-driven. Apparently, quite a number of folk at the Academy believed that common folk in America didn’t know quality & had to be told what it was. There was much disappointment amongst us young actor types due to this. That’s when we started throwing Twinkies at the TV during the awards. (Something I don’t do any more – I now throw marshmallows! They make a wonderful POP when they hit the screen.) We all vowed that we would not take these things seriously unless & until the awards consistently became true recognition of achievement & not driven by agenda. Hasn’t happened yet. Prolly won’t.
BTW, I did see quite a number of films in Academy showings in my years in LA. The vast majority of the showings were empty. Especially the docs & shorts – & anything foreign. Nobody went to them. I guess the voters would just throw darts at the ballot.
“if you take the awards on the terms the Academy intends for us to take them.”
I think we’re agreeing — I don’t take them on those terms, for what its worth, except in the tech categories where voters can make qualitative judgments more easily.
Abe’s always been one of my faves. I bought Barney Miller DVDs for my dad but watched them all first. How did he like T2?
LOL, Brett. I have very fond memories of Barny Miller – howling with laughter when I was a kid. Yes, I think we’re on the same page! Abe was a nice guy. There happened to be a Saul Bass exhibit upstairs from the cinema (awesome, BTW – Bass was a graphic design genius, but we all knew that) & that’s where I actually kinda met him. He just kinda gave that withering, wonderful Fish look regarding the movie. I wasn’t really sure how to take that, exactly. I coulda been that he was making a joke, riffing on the Fish character for us. What comic timing that man had! He also used to come into the Goldwyn Pavilion Cinemas a lot – which was my moonlight job while trying to make it in LA. Always bought popcorn & was always very kind. If he coulda, I think he woulda tipped us!
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:56 am
But . . . they nominated “A Serious Man” for Best Picture! Is that really all you have to say?
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:59 am
Give me some time. I haven’t even had my coffee yet.
And yeah, the absurdity of overlooking Moreau… Moreau *and* Swinton, in fact… overwhelms any other reaction I might have.
I doubt I’m going to start dancing for joy that I agree with… oh… two of the their ten Best Picture nominations.
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:01 am
It’s only frustrating if you think of the Academy Awards as representing actual judgments of quality instead of as polls listing which performances and movies a certain sample of people liked best.
February 2nd, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Except for the fact that the Academy actively presents their awards as representative of judgments of quality & not as popularity contest within Academy members. So I think it’s inherently frustrating, if you take the awards on the terms the Academy intends for us to take them.
When I lived in LA & was pounding pavement to be a Working Actor(tm) in the early 1990s, I had a number of friends who worked for the Academy; some in the library, some in other positions. (The cool part is we could get into Academy-only screenings of movies for free. I saw Terminator 2 with Abe Vigoda! Ahem.) Per the folks I knew, it was very clear to members in the Academy that they were making choices based on popularity rather than judgments of quality. It was even encouraged that they make their votes from their hearts, effectively based them in sentimentality, rather than based on the achievement of the performance or technical merit. That’s when we recognized it was agenda-driven. Apparently, quite a number of folk at the Academy believed that common folk in America didn’t know quality & had to be told what it was. There was much disappointment amongst us young actor types due to this. That’s when we started throwing Twinkies at the TV during the awards. (Something I don’t do any more – I now throw marshmallows! They make a wonderful POP when they hit the screen.) We all vowed that we would not take these things seriously unless & until the awards consistently became true recognition of achievement & not driven by agenda. Hasn’t happened yet. Prolly won’t.
BTW, I did see quite a number of films in Academy showings in my years in LA. The vast majority of the showings were empty. Especially the docs & shorts – & anything foreign. Nobody went to them. I guess the voters would just throw darts at the ballot.
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Gene said:
“if you take the awards on the terms the Academy intends for us to take them.”
I think we’re agreeing — I don’t take them on those terms, for what its worth, except in the tech categories where voters can make qualitative judgments more easily.
Abe’s always been one of my faves. I bought Barney Miller DVDs for my dad but watched them all first. How did he like T2?
February 4th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
LOL, Brett. I have very fond memories of Barny Miller – howling with laughter when I was a kid. Yes, I think we’re on the same page! Abe was a nice guy. There happened to be a Saul Bass exhibit upstairs from the cinema (awesome, BTW – Bass was a graphic design genius, but we all knew that) & that’s where I actually kinda met him. He just kinda gave that withering, wonderful Fish look regarding the movie. I wasn’t really sure how to take that, exactly. I coulda been that he was making a joke, riffing on the Fish character for us. What comic timing that man had! He also used to come into the Goldwyn Pavilion Cinemas a lot – which was my moonlight job while trying to make it in LA. Always bought popcorn & was always very kind. If he coulda, I think he woulda tipped us!