Oscar Ennui? |
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The gold statuettes have been presented to the few, the proud, the chosen of Hollywood. The loaned jewels and the rented tuxedos have been returned. The red carpet has been rolled up and placed in storage. The hyper journalists, representing numbers-hungry networks, have been silenced (for the time being). Hollywood's Kodak Theater has been cleaned, freshened, made ready for the next Big Event.
What some called Oscar "impossible" has happened: the Hollywood elite finally smiled down upon New Yorker Martin Scorsese and his gritty THE DEPARTED.
Still and all, we are left with the feeling that, somehow, Oscar has lost some of his Golden Glow. A few critics have already pronounced that The Oscars have become a bore: proclaiming, "We've entered an era of Oscar ennui." Ennui (pronounced "on-wee") is French for "boredom. The Associated Press called the event "just dull."
I'm a long-time Ellen Degeneres fan, but, as an Oscar host, she's no Billy Crystal, or even Whoopi Goldberg. Ellen's best line of the evening came during her opening, "If there weren't blacks, Jews or gays, there would be no Oscars.," she observed. Her finest moment arrived mid show when she asked Steven Spielberg to take a phone cam photo of her with Clint Eastwood, and then complained that Spielberg hadn't framed the picture correctly.
Perhaps Oscars' detractors are correct. If so, then why have the Academy Awards become a drag?
Some of Oscars' chroniclers see it this way: When you have too many awards events, 
Scorcese Scores At Last |
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one following on the heels of another, they begin to diminish the value and appeal of each other. Said chroniclers point out that after the Golden Globes, the People's Choice awards, the critics' picks, and the various guild awards, Match-Flickers, and other movie fans, are suffering from Oscar fatigue even before the nominations are announced.
It is difficult to argue successfully against this opinion. It is supported strongly by the long-term decline of the television ratings for all award shows. Let's face it, in recent years, the Oscar-cast, as well as other award shows, have provoked more "yawns" than "yahoos!"
I'm a long-time Ellen Degeneres fan, but, as an Oscar host, she's no Billy Crystal, or even Whoopi Goldberg. Ellen's best line of the evening came during her opening, "If there weren't blacks, Jews or gays, there would be no Oscars.," she observed. Her finest moment arrived mid show when she asked Steven Spielberg to take a phone cam photo of her with Clint Eastwood, and then complained that Spielberg hadn't framed the picture correctly.
Other Hollywood pundits site "ongoing loss of credibility" as the source of Oscars' ennui. This school of thought claims that in earlier times, a less jaded and sophisticated America, believed that Oscar was bestowed on motion pictures' best and brightest. In recent year, a more savvy and skeptical public see Oscar more as an opportunity for Hollywood to salute its politics and shun its prejudices than a forum for awarding excellence. 
Ellen Didn't Rock Oscars' World |
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People holding this belief point to last year's Best Picture race. Worldwide, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN was named Best Picture by more motion picture associations than any picture of the year. Again, worldwide, it was clearly the critics' choice. And the motion picture guilds felt the same way. Yet Oscar, shunning the theme of "boys kissing," passed over BROKEBACK in favor of the brilliant, but far less important, CRASH. For many, Oscar's 2005 Best Picture choice shot his credibility out the gold-plated head of his coveted statuette.
Still others believe that competition from the Internet, home video, and other sources of entertainment, have simply caused our interest in motion pictures, and, consequently, the Oscars, to diminish.
Regardless of its cause(s), Oscars' ennui is impacting the box office. In an earlier time, a Best Picture Oscar winner could expect to add an extra 10% or more to its overall box office take on the basis of its Oscar win. Multiple Oscar-winning films could count on a similar boost. Today, a double-digit bump, based on a Best Picture or multiple Oscar win, is not a given. It remains to be seen how much of a box office or video bump is received by the multiple-honored THE DEPARTED, BABEL, or DREAMGIRLS, especially since the first two are already available on DVD.
How can we end Oscar ennui, restoring the Academy Awards' luster and cultural importance to its former position? Is such a restoration even possible or desirable? These are questions for a future column.
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| Christopher Stone |
Christopher Stone is the author of the international best seller Re-Creating Your Self. With Mary Sheldon, he co-authored three highly successful hardcover books of guided meditations.
He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West.
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