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March 07, 2010
Oscar Day
There is always something sad and wondrous about Oscar Day.
It feels like the end, but for the people in the trenches, the day is brutal.
The sense of inevitability... yet the hope of surprise.
The perspective of people who will go home with a new first name, "Oscar Winner" and those who will have to live without it... and who will be no less the artist at 8p tonight than they were before all of this started.
For me, the fun of the season comes earlier and earlier in the year. Something mechanical takes over once the mid-December parade of awards and nominations are made public. From that point on, it's the Bataan Death March.
I guess that the same thing becomes true during the political primaries and then the two-party election competition. When there is a wide range of voices out there, it's about something else. There is the possibility of something real happening... even if that is part self-delusion.
This year, more than any other before, was a year in which the media noise was unbearable for me. It was such a great pleasure to spend time with the nominees, most of whom I did long interviews with before they were Oscar nominees. Those are the moments that I treasure when I think about the last number of months.
You have to be a little bit in love to do this job. And I still am. There were great moments and great mistakes... great gets and great misses.
And somehow, in the last couple of weeks, there has been more anger - real anger - than I have experienced in over a decade of covering this annual event closely. What a waste.
It's a scary time. I think that may be what is underneath the small explosions that have echoed through the dome of dumb that the media has turned into this year. As people are fired, The Weinsteins want to appear to be ALIVE. The Hurt Locker has gone from a massive underdog to expecting to win. Avatar has been impotent in responding to relentless awards abuse, often backhanded and unintentionally harsh, as a massive hit must be... how can they ever be seen complaining without looking ungrateful?
Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm burnt out. But I don't think so.
What could be more lovely than a young filmmaker at the Indie Spirits winning $25k and needing it to "pay his rent and to start his next film?" That's what it's all about, right? That's perspective on all the parties and glitz and salesmanship right?
So a deep breath... a weird feeling of disconnection, and a few hours tonight that will hopefully feel like the celebration it is meant to be.
Onward...
Posted by dpoland at March 7, 2010 02:12 PM
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