I love movies! I take every opportunity I can to get into a movie theatre and if that's not possible I go to my local DVD store and rent the latest releases. I then go out and buy those movies that I really like for my own private collection. I think I have about 300 DVDs in my collection now. So, it is no wonder that I am happy to wake up early to watch the Oscars on TV.
As I watched the show last week, I found myself wondering why I had put myself through the inconvenience! What gave rise this to this thought was the endless, repetitious, mercifully-short-one-minute-long speeches given by the winners in which they thanked everyone who had supposedly helped them get to this life-changing moment, from their fellow actors, producers, directors, lawyers to their parents (alive and dead), current husbands and wives, children and, of course, God.
Now, I do not begrudge them these overwhelming, gushing expressions of appreciation, but I do mind them imposing those possibly heart-felt expressions on the millions of us who have no idea of whom they are speaking. Who cares that they are thankful to those innumerable unknown people and besides, why haven't they thanked them before arriving at the mike for getting them as far as the nomination anyway. I know, advertising and exposure, blah, blah, blah, but don't they realize that beating us to death with catalogues of names for four agonizing hours has the effect of making us lose track of who is who anyway, even if we did, out of a sense of amusement, try to keep track of these otherwise unsung stalwarts.
For once, I would like to see these Oscar recipients display the grace and keen-wittedness on stage that they do in their movies. Imagine how refreshing it would be to hear some eloquence emanating from their mouths instead of the grunting of forgettable names with which we are tortured. I live in the hope that future Oscar ceremonies will be approached with the same gravity and artistic acumen evident in the productions that got the nominees there in the first place.
By the way, the winner was the night's hostess, Ellen Degeneres, who filled the theatre with warmth, gentle humour and a lasting impression that celebrities can think beyond themselves.
Dion Marc Delport
9 March 2007