Hey Oscars, Stop Touching Me!

Oh yes, ladies and gentlemen, another Oscar post. Now, before you go running into the hills screaming out to ancient gods, begging for freedom from such redundant calls, I'd like to point out that, per Uni fashion, this post is about those who write about the Oscars and not the actual events themselves. You see, I find those who writer about Oscars to be far more fascinating. From those who mindlessly rant about how anyone under forty should win anything (yes E! I do mean you) to those who complain that everything nominated is garbage (either because they haven't seen it or don't care for those particular films), it's a fascinating section of society and today I'd like to talk about another facet of it. The ever infamous 'Out of Touch' argument.

You see, perhaps one of the most amazing things about the Oscars is how great they are at being out of touch. Depending on who you read, and when, the Oscars are currently out of touch with mainstream film goers, music fans, foreign film fans, classic film fans, independent film fans, science fiction film fans, and well, to be honest, absolutely everybody. It's really a gift. Somehow, no matter what films they pick, they're out of touch with every subsection of the film going spectrum. Except of course those of us who fail to get emotionally invested and purely enjoy them from an inquiring mind standpoint.

But let's be honest. If the Academy doesn't pick the movies I want them to, they're not just disassociating themselves from me. No, can't be. They're disassociating themselves from everybody even vaguely like me that I associate as being apart of me whether they want to be or not! It's a crime of indescribable proportion. The Academy, in their snobbish self pretentious way, have managed to alienate me... the cruelty! Well, I'm not going to stand for it. If they can't bow down to my desires and pick every film I deem to be the centrifuge of cinema that year then they will pay. Quick, everyone who holds the same opinion as me band together in a giant ring and scream "out of touch" over and over again until we make it true. I swear, by not picking my films, they're obviously pandering to the other subsections of film goers that only mildly overlap with me.

Wait... those people are also complaining the Academy is out of touch? Crap. Then it must be... oh, them too? Hold on a second, if the Academy is out of touch with every group then what films did they pick? Some from each but not entirely all in any one particular direction? Well, that makes sense I suppose. I mean, they can't AGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH.

Oh, poor 'out of touch' ranter. Exploded due to an inability to process the fact that perhaps the Oscars aren't out of touch, they just have different taste. That due to the nature of the beast we've built and feed, they can never pick what everyone wants them to pick. Does that mean we should completely ignore them? I would say no. Despite many people's desire to subvert them, the Oscars often help give prominence to films that studios wouldn't feel safe releasing in another context. I will admit they do at times have bad cases of self-serving snobbishness... but is it any more snobbish than those who claim themselves superior just because they disagree with them? The only real difference is that the Oscars do it on television in front of millions and you do it on a blog/website in front of hundreds (maybe thousands - some are better off than others). But given the opportunity, I bet most of you would love to spread your thoughts to millions of people on television. So the high and mighty act, yeah... I'm not buying it.

Just take a chill pill. All is well.