Oscar Garza is director of the Specialized Journalism / Arts & Culture graduate program at the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Journalism. He has been a culture writer and editor at KPCC/LAist, Tu Ciudad magazine and the Los Angeles Times.
Well, the Academy Award nominations are out. Time for the studio PR departments to go into overdrive on behalf of their nominees. Time for the trade publications and the Los Angeles Times and New York Times to rake in revenue (rare for them these days) from “For Your Consideration” ads. Time for the nominees to do their part with nonstop interviews and appearances on every media platform — and to figure out what they will wear to the March 15 ceremony.
And it’s all hugely absurd.
Big award shows, including the Emmys and Grammys, have seemed increasingly frivolous and out of step in recent years. And that’s reflected in TV ratings that are a fraction of what they once were. But no ceremony seems more clueless than the granddaddy of them all, the Oscars. It’s completely incongruous to watch the parade of actors and actresses decked out in glittery garb and glistening baubles and bling — especially this year while Gaza and Ukraine continue to suffer mercilessly, and our own country’s democracy teeters.
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Sure, the celebs will wear buttons with messages to show their solidarity, and some brave winners may even deliver political acceptance speeches (despite likely admonitions from the broadcast producers and ABC).
But it’s all hollow.
I’m not saying the Hollywood community doesn’t care about the horrors at home and abroad. I’m saying it’s hard to watch the public display of excess and privilege in light of those horrors. It all hints at virtue signaling.
Some people will advise me to lighten up. Everybody needs an escape from the world’s woes — me included. But there are plenty of escape options that aren’t as distastefully out-of-touch.
Oscar Garza
Mind you, I think it’s perfectly fine for the Directors Guild and Writers Guild and Producers Guild awards to proceed. Those are non-televised affairs where the peer praise seems sincere. (As for the Screen Actors Guild awards, they are televised nationally and serve as a frothy appetizer to the Oscars.)
But the Academy Awards will go on. Not least because there’s so much money at stake, everywhere you turn, for all parties involved.
So there, I got it off my chest. But I can’t end without noting the irony of the Best Picture award possibly going to “One Battle After Another.” Much has been written about how the film’s scary authoritarian government seems to mirror our current situation — even though writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson had been developing the idea for decades and it was shot before the 2024 presidential election. If nothing else, Anderson should be given a Most Prescient award.
But since I can’t stop the Academy Awards from happening, at least let Sean Penn win Best Supporting Actor for his performance in “One Battle After Another.” Now, that’s an acceptance speech I’ll tune in for.
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Haley Ellis
