Oscar Magic

I feel like today I need to take a break from emotional processing… and take a break from talking about writing. Instead I’m going to talk about an 84-year-old film tradition.

That’s right, I’m talking about the Oscars.

While I realize that there is a certain amount of cronyism in the Oscars and in Hollywood in general. It’s still a wonderful night to watch. I enjoy it as if I were still the child living in unfortunate circumstances. I still watch it through the same filter of someone who sees this as unattainable.

But I continue to watch it none the less.

It’s interesting to see some of the other movies that come out that don’t get the millions of dollars in advertising revenues… like documentaries. There’s a short documentary that came out about the 9.0 earthquake in Japan and the tsunami afterward. It looks both heartbreaking and interesting.

More than anything, it’s interesting to see how different the Hollywood machine has become. Instead of it being a studio machine, it’s now open to independents and foreign films.

The most exciting part is that the Oscars have come full circle. It’s been 83 years since a silent film has won an Oscar. The last one to win was “Wings” which was released in 1927. It was also the first Oscar ceremony. To see “The Artist” a silent film about the end of the silent world and beginning of talkies… it felt almost right. It’s also amazing as it was produced by a French company and has a largely French cast, but was shot entirely in Hollywood.

It created a different kind of poignancy to this years ceremony.

Will I continue to watch the Oscars?

Absolutely.

Will I watch it almost as if I were a child?

Totally. It’s still a time of magic to see all the people who I respect come together to pat each others’ backs.