snubbed
Something has really been bothering me for the past week or so about the recent Oscar ceremony. A lot of people were appalled when Heath Ledger was featured in the Oscar tribute to the recently deceased and Brad Renfro was not. The two actors were contemporaries of each other and even tried out for the same roles, but as Ledger's career took off in the wake of 10 Things I Hate About You in 1999, Renfro began to slip into drug addiction despite having central starring roles in The Pelican Brief and Apt Pupil and playing a young Brad Pitt in Sleepers. However, both stars continued to appear in films until the time of their deaths -- both from accidental drug overdoses this January.
Don't get me wrong, there's no question that Heath Ledger was a bigger star. However, when you're the Academy, you can't claim ignorance when you forget to mention another star during a major industry function despite their level of success. But that's just it, the Academy didn't forget -- they intentionally left Renfro out. Why? Because he "didn't contrast well" with Ledger and his death (from a heroin overdose) was too much of a downer.
You know what? Enough with all the fame and celebrity bullshit for a second. These were both talented people who chose to take a risk and make a career in the arts at a young age and it ultimately killed them long before their time. There's no two ways about it -- you give both of those people the same credit. You don't cut one person from a tribute because their death wasn't glamorous enough. That's fucking detestable. And not only that, you're completely failing at your job as the central institution of your entire industry.
I'm so sick of entertainment being about image and other industry-produced crap of manufactured importance. What ever happened to focusing on and developing and celebrating the things that are actually important about entertainment? Like, I don't know -- art, talent, self-expression and the desire to share with your fellow humans? These are the only things that set us apart from the animals, folks. They're kind of important to our existence.
...though in the end it all comes back to what set me off about this in the first place: picture Renfro's mom watching the Oscars and hoping for just a few second of tribute from the industry her son was apart of since he was a kid, only to find that he was completely ignored.
Don't get me wrong, there's no question that Heath Ledger was a bigger star. However, when you're the Academy, you can't claim ignorance when you forget to mention another star during a major industry function despite their level of success. But that's just it, the Academy didn't forget -- they intentionally left Renfro out. Why? Because he "didn't contrast well" with Ledger and his death (from a heroin overdose) was too much of a downer.
You know what? Enough with all the fame and celebrity bullshit for a second. These were both talented people who chose to take a risk and make a career in the arts at a young age and it ultimately killed them long before their time. There's no two ways about it -- you give both of those people the same credit. You don't cut one person from a tribute because their death wasn't glamorous enough. That's fucking detestable. And not only that, you're completely failing at your job as the central institution of your entire industry.
I'm so sick of entertainment being about image and other industry-produced crap of manufactured importance. What ever happened to focusing on and developing and celebrating the things that are actually important about entertainment? Like, I don't know -- art, talent, self-expression and the desire to share with your fellow humans? These are the only things that set us apart from the animals, folks. They're kind of important to our existence.
...though in the end it all comes back to what set me off about this in the first place: picture Renfro's mom watching the Oscars and hoping for just a few second of tribute from the industry her son was apart of since he was a kid, only to find that he was completely ignored.