Welcome to America, Land of No Surprises
Ok, a lot of people were surprised by Crash's upset win last night at the Oscars.
But how can you have an upset win in a process that prominently features a secret ballot?
I think it is of greater significance that all the acting awards - every one of the four - went exactly the way everyone predicted.
At first I thought Crash's backers had put out a rumor that was circulating that it might win to boost DVD sales and rentals (trust me, after having grown up in the company town, it's hardly unthinkable), but there was also Ebert's campaign in favor of the movie.
So what does all this mean? I think it clearly shows that people polled the electorate.
Have the Oscars become so important to us that we treat it like a Presidential race (sadly, I think for most people the answer is yes)? More importantly, is the unexpected so terrifying that we have to know the outcome of everything in advance? Can't we enjoy surprises?
We have entire newsgroups dedicated to revealing the surprise twist of next week's TV show; Novelizations of movies appear before the movies themselves (and Hollywood wonders why it can't put asses in seats). And let's not even get started on politics.
For God's sake people what's wrong with you??!!! Can't you learn to expect the unexpected???!!
(And congratulations to the Academy for once again boldly nominating movies nobody saw. The box office on all five nominated films together was less than that of War of the Worlds and supposedly that flopped.)
But how can you have an upset win in a process that prominently features a secret ballot?
I think it is of greater significance that all the acting awards - every one of the four - went exactly the way everyone predicted.
At first I thought Crash's backers had put out a rumor that was circulating that it might win to boost DVD sales and rentals (trust me, after having grown up in the company town, it's hardly unthinkable), but there was also Ebert's campaign in favor of the movie.
So what does all this mean? I think it clearly shows that people polled the electorate.
Have the Oscars become so important to us that we treat it like a Presidential race (sadly, I think for most people the answer is yes)? More importantly, is the unexpected so terrifying that we have to know the outcome of everything in advance? Can't we enjoy surprises?
We have entire newsgroups dedicated to revealing the surprise twist of next week's TV show; Novelizations of movies appear before the movies themselves (and Hollywood wonders why it can't put asses in seats). And let's not even get started on politics.
For God's sake people what's wrong with you??!!! Can't you learn to expect the unexpected???!!
(And congratulations to the Academy for once again boldly nominating movies nobody saw. The box office on all five nominated films together was less than that of War of the Worlds and supposedly that flopped.)