Wednesday, February 5, 2020

A Film Buff’s Confessions About the Oscars

With the Oscars steadily approaching, they are on every movie fan’s mind from causal movie goers to die hard film buffs. The Oscars are supposedly the biggest night for the movies. Yet I have a confession, they don’t mean that much to me. There are things I like about them as I will discuss here but they still don’t excite me.

First what I actually like about the Oscars. I love the great discussions about movies the Oscars bring up. I spend a lot of time reading and listening to discussions on movies, not for a simple good or bad opinion but rather to openly discuss everything there is to say about these movies and why one film fan thinks a certain movie should win. I also like that they get people to watch great movies they would usually ignore. I am so glad people are seeing movies like Parasite or Little Women because they are nominated for best picture. After all the reason I do this blog is to introduce my readers to films that I really like. (Still it must be admitted that the great short films, foreign movies (that aren’t nominated for best picture) and documentaries don’t get the attention they deserve despite Oscar nominations)

However I still can’t help but feel the actual Oscars pale in comparison to the discussions and of course the films themselves. My main problem is that I simply don’t care what wins. I know what my favorite movie of the year is (Parasite) and whether or not it wins Best Picture means nothing to me. I don’t care for simple best or worst opinions if there is no discussion of why it is the best or worst, even if many of the top people in the film industry vote on it. The problem is that there can be no discussions about the winners on air as there are simply too many people voting for that to take place. But I care more about the why than the what in conversations about films (that is why I will read critics I don’t agree with). I understand a lot of people disagree with me on this and to be honest I am glad they enjoy the Oscars, just as I am happy for someone who enjoys a movie I didn’t.

-Michael J. Ruhland 

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