Hello all,I would like to welcome the first blog contribution for Sundjata Abubakari -- a member of the Comics Club and a man of strong opinions when it comes to comics-related issues (but aren't we all?). I'll let him take it from here.
--Robert
Excuse me while I whip this out...
Fanboys will have to look elsewhere for validation because it sure ain't coming from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I hate the Oscars and award shows in general because in most cases they aren't based on merit. George C. Scott once referred to the Oscars as "a meat parade".
Look at how many memorable, classic, oft-quoted, frequently-brought-up-in-conversation films have gotten snubbed in the past and then look at how much more forgettable, craptacular tripe has gone home with wheelbarrows full of those C-3PO-looking statues. Rollo Tomasi getting jacked for the Best Picture prize by the so-called King of the World was one of many Oscar travesties. I'd also wager more than Pascal that no one can quote one memorable line from that cure for my insomnia called "The English Patient". Now we have entered yet another "I say g--damn the Oscars" moment for me.
Dig. Okay, Heath got nominated. Like that wasn't a given. However, despite the Writers Guild, Directors Guild and Producers Guild nods and the genre-crossing audience and critical praise given to "The Dark Knight", Oscar once again allowed us to smell it for what it is when it relegated TDK to the "comic book-science fiction-fantasy-technical nominations-only" ghetto.
I wonder if anyone besides me is having a "Superman: The Movie" or "Alien" or "The Empire Strikes Back" flashback moment here.
After the Guild nominations I had a brief ray of hope that this would be the year at the Oscars that fanboys would be vindicated, but no. Movies of the fantasy, sci-fi, comic book genres--and often comedies--rarely get nominated, let alone win, in the major Academy categories. Oscar is a repeat offender in treating these genres as if they have no validity and it continues to be true with TDK.
"The Lord of the Rings" trilogy is a notable exception, but it had the distinction of being based on a literary classic, so Oscar gave it a pass with all three films getting Best Picture nods and "Return of the King" winning it. TDK's source material, which is sadly and unfairly perhaps the most maligned storytelling medium in the world (comic books--GASP!), undoubtedly was a strike against it when it came to the Academy voting elite who couldn't simply judge the film on its merits as a solid crime thriller.
One can't help but think that TDK might have gotten more love had it not had a hero dressed as a bat and a villain dressed like a clown. Looks like I have another reason to not watch the Oscars.
Clint got snubbed too. Yet another travesty of justice committed by Oscar!
Get off my lawn, AMPAS!
--Djata
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