Rantalicious: Nolan at the Oscars & Cutler on the Field
[mood:
Pickles just heard that the Oscars snubbed Nolan again.]
[music: Irish Paddy Clan - Fuck the British Army]
I'm sorry I'm not greeting you with a top hat this time, but I have two, quick rant moments to get out of my system:
1) I don't typically invest too deeply in award shows, but I have to say that I am incredibly disheartened that Christopher Nolan was once again denied in the Oscar's Best Director category. Inception was a gamechanger, and while the cast, visual effects, and music all played integral roles in magically bringing that story to life, it was the direction that blended those elements so expertly. The direction and writing are what made Inception the mind-bending, visual, and visceral journey it was, and while Inception did get the nod in the writing category, I think it's a mistake to snub Nolan in the directing category. It's also a shame that its talented actors were completely left in the cold for their respective categories, though I expected that much with the contenders the critics were favoring. I've disagreed with plenty of nominations, snubs, and winners in the past, so I expect to disagree with selections, but this time, I just really hoped Nolan would get his due.
I guess Saito didn't have the money to spend on buying the Oscar's nominating committee after all that cha-ching he dropped on Robert's new rock. Rumor is it, the four-carat juggernaut blinded an entire orphanage during the business tycoons' trip in the Philippines to build homes for tsunami victims, widely believed to be both a PR gambit and engagement celebration, which might be why Fischer-Morrow set up a scholarship fund for blind youth later that day.
2) Jay Cutler's "toughness" or "integrity" as a quarterback was savagely debated by other/former NFL players. They blasted him using social media, dubbing him a "quitter" before they even knew the extent of his injury or who made the decision to pull him out of the game.
First of all, he was medically advised not to return to the game and did so anyway, removed when the team realized he couldn't perform efficiently (i.e., couldn't put the necessary weight on his knee to plant).
Honestly, he has been sacked an inordinate amount in the league, and he has never requested to be pulled despite taking some awful tackles. To me, that shows his grit and ability to play through pain.
As someone who works with healthcare professionals, I find it enraging that people glorify playing through an injury. "I played a whole season on a hurt knee," chimed Maurice Jones-Drew of the Jags. Admire their resolve, but don't advocate it as the golden mean.
Three big flaws in that statement:
1) Not every knee injury is the same. Just like the NFL circumstance isn't going to be the same. Maybe Maurice's line protected him better, or he maintained greater mobility. Maybe doctors advised him that he could continue to play on it as long as they set some parameters.
2) No one even knew the extent of the injury when these tweets started coming out. It's still vague! As one sports analyst noted, in the days before social media, the Bears would at least have until press conference time to better articulate their decision and the injury. Time and more information could have cooled the situation down a little. Now, people sound off ignorantly with limited information. Knowing exactly what someone is thinking before they even have time to process it thoroughly or consider consequences of their reaction is not a good thing, and it's one of the things I find continually frustrating--along with the loss of important tone/emotive information--when communicating through technology.
3) Playing through an injury against medical advice should not be glorified or lauded for "toughness." You know what's tough? Dealing with the emotional and physical consequences of your athletic career ending. Have fun toughening up to that as a result of your game cred playing through an injury.
Was it amazing that Kerri Strug landed that vault on a severely injured ankle in the Olympics? Sure. It was astounding. But you know what? She didn't give it time to heal, the ankle injury worsened, and it effectively ended her career. Would you prefer that Culter plays through it and potentially injures himself permanently so that he can never return to the game at all? If a medical professional said, "Don't go back in" that should be the end of it. Period. It might be frustrating; it might be a gamechanger, but it's the right thing to do in a very physically demanding contact sport. Rage about the circumstance and how unfair it is, but don't blame the injured player for being a "wuss."
Secondly, I think it was poor form for their reporters to seize on that immediately and use it in the locker room when Cutler is still dealing with the pain of an injury and losing the game, only to be confronted by reporters reading off half-baked tweets from his peers who are sitting at home jaded because their teams didn't even make it that far. He reacted emotionally to hearing those comments, and I think that makes him human. Or did we collectively forget that football players have hearts and feelings? He showed us that he can be wounded; he showed vulnerability in an environment that scoffs at it, and he's a stronger person for it. For a player that's been characterized as seeming aloof with condescension perceived in that distance, maybe this will give them a proper taste.
Also, it's a bit misleading to say those comments "made him cry." Tears may have welled up, and he bit his lip. Being brought to tears is not the same as crying, but regardless, Cutler felt so hurt and betrayed by those comments as to be emotionally affected. Many of the people harping about his decision not to play with a sprained (and perhaps torn) MCI have never experienced a knee injury or ever been in a high-risk situation with 300 lb men barreling toward him. Ideally, the quarterback is protected well enough that he doesn't take a lot of hard hits and has time to judge the situation/protect himself as needed. In Cutler's case, he has been sacked often, which means those 250-300 lb men reach him--often.
I didn't even realize I felt this passionately about this topic until I read the article. I don't follow the Bears closely, but I was still so angered with the other players' behavior. One Arizona player said Cutler didn’t deserve to shower until the rest of the team left the locker room. WTF. Seriously? All of that NFL player mult-team solidarity during their talk of becoming a "union" sure flew out the window quickly, now didn't it?
On a completely different, but somewhat related note, Jay Cutler has amazing eyelashes. Look at them. They are veritable velvet curtains drawn over gorgeous eyes. Even that reporter's like, "I should be focusing on his words, but all I can see are his eyes...his glassy, troubled eyes...eyelashes damp with unshed tears...oh shit, what did he just say about the game?"