Not Always Entertainment...

It seems to me that lately the more Oscar buzz a movie gets, and the more Oscars it wins, the worse the movie. Maybe I am just a small town girl who likes movies about love and romance. But I also like war movies and action filled 007 films. I’m not a picky movie person, honestly. I give movies a chance, but movies like No Country for Old Men, 3:10 to Yuma, and even last years movies like The Departed really did nothing for me. I bring this up because I had the unfortunate experience of watching No Country for Old Men last weekend.

From my knowledge of classic movies, it used to be common place for comedies and movies that didn’t necessarily have a deep message to win the Oscar for best picture. I really don’t feel that is true anymore. This year No Country for Old Men won, year before that was The Departed, before that Crash, and before that Million Dollar Baby. All of these movies are: a) depressing b) violent or c) depressing AND violent. Is this really what America loves, and if so what does that say about us as people? If the general American loves cursing, tears, and blood, then why have the Academy Awards had increasingly lower ratings during the broadcast? Why do people not vote these movies into the best movies of all time on the numerous lists put together in the world? All of these questions fail to be answered by the nominations and the choices made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

I am a movie lover at heart. I find it easy to connect to the words and the acting in the films that touch my heart. But no matter how hard I try, I cannot understand the decisions made by the members of the Academy during award season. Everything from costumes to music to the actual picture are the wrong choices in my opinion. The members of the Academy are trying to make motion pictures TOO powerful and TOO meaningful when all audiences really want, usually, are entertaining film experiences. Whether it is a drama or comedy, romance or musical, Americans want an enjoyable experience, and lately the motion pictures distinguished by the Academy Awards seem more painful than enjoyable.