Brokeback: Debriefing

It's been a long time since I've expected the Academy Awards to be an indicator of merit. Ever since Elizabeth Taylor won an Oscar for something I've forgotten the title of because she'd been ill and had not won for Butterfield Eight (or maybe she won for that one because she'd been sick and hadn't won for the one she should have won for -- it's been a while), I've realized that the Oscars are all about Hollywood politics, not artistic quality.

So, in spite of the face-saving "I didn't think it was that great" statements by a number of gay commentators, I'm simply going to say that, like the Supreme Court in Bowers vs. Hardwick, the Academy doesn't always make the right decisions. The difference is the Academy can't go back and fix it.

And thus this take on how Crash won Best Picture at the Oscars, from The Film Awards Tracking Database:

In 10 years’ time, this result will probably be seen as an embarrassment to the Academy. It will likely go down in history as a time when fear won out over progress, and when playing industry politics won out over honoring a true work of art. But for now, the industry has dodged their perceived bullet. Ann Coulter is gloating that liberals have been slapped in the face, and conservative housewives in Nebraska can feel okay taking their kids to the multiplex without fear that they’re inadvertently endorsing something ungodly.

It is doubtful this move will improve the industry’s box office success—only producing films with actual quality and whipping theaters back into shape so people actually want to go out will do that. It is also doubtful this will negatively affect the historical perception of one of the most brilliant love stories ever put to film. The number of kudos "Brokeback" received, along with what will likely be at least $85 million in domestic box office, the largest total ever for a gay drama, cement its place in history as one of the greatest films of the modern age. That it didn’t win this last prize will ultimately be insignificant to this perception. What will be significant is the perception that the industry, far from being out of touch with mainstream moviegoers, is so terrified of offending them that it will sell out the credibility of its awards to avoid doing so.

It's a very interesting article. Do read the whole thing. It's not that long.

(And the studios are wondering why their numbers are tanking? Maybe it's because their product is tanking.)