Naaaaaaah!!! That would undermine my right-wing bias against Hollywood, and I can’t have that, now, can I?
“Crash” is the only one of this year’s nominees that I’ve seen so far, and it compares well overall with other nominees from previous years, so it probably holds its own against the nominees from this year, as well. Fortunately, a lot of the nominated movies are coming out on DVD over the next 2-3 months.
I guess a lot of right-wingers have the following view of how the Oscars are selected. I used to think this way, but as I get older I find it harder and harder to believe in conspiracies of any kind, unless only a very few people were involved:
*** How it should be:***
Academy member #1: “Hey, #2! Did you see Crash? How about Brokeback? Which way are you leaning for Best Picture? I thought Paul Haggis did a fantastic job intertwining all those stories, and I could really empathize with almost all of the characters. To tell you the truth, I thought Brokeback was good, but a little boring.”
Academy member #2: “I haven’t decided yet. I thought Crash was a terrific ensemble piece, but I don’t know necessarily if I found it more moving than Brokeback. Yeah, I guess the whole ‘gay cowboy’ thing made me a little queasy at first, but I can’t deny that Ang Lee made a very powerful movie. I’m leaning toward Brokeback.”
How we sometimes fear it is:
*** Academy member #1: “Listen, Crash is great, but it’s time for us to really stand up to President Bush and all that he represents. We have to get it through the heads of these backwards, inbred numbskulls in flyover country that homosexuality is not a bad thing! I mean, how many gay people in red states are going to be beaten to death tonight by Bush voters who are just too stupid to know any better? Our commitment to social justice obligates us to vote for Brokeback Mountain.”
Academy member #2: “You’ve gone nuts. Gay people are not being beaten to death by Jed and Jethro Republican, for crying out loud! The real threat is the threat to free speech posed by this administration. My agent is saying I can’t speak out against the administration’s criminal lack of protection of the spotted owl from Big Lumber, because it will offend half my audience. Who the heck cares what the audience thinks?? It’s all about the Oscar, right?! We must send a message for all the world to hear, that Hollywood will not be silenced! We must therefore vote for Good Night and Good Luck.”
Ridiculous, yes?
Maybe not entirely, though, in some quarters.
Here’s someone who thinks that by voting for Crash, the Academy missed a chance to “strike a blow against Republican wedge politics and extremist religious hatemongering…Turns out Hollywood is as homophobic as Red State country.”
