Did The Academy Bow To Political Pressure?

[Yavin4]

I haven't seen either film, "Crash" or "Brokeback Mountain", so I really cannot give an opinion as to which one is the "best" picture. With that said, I still get a funny feeling that the Academy was wary of giving the right wing another wedge issue, "Liberal Hollywood is out of touch with American values" and "Hollywood wants to make your kids gay", etc. Also, remember that last year was a down year for Hollywood at the box office, and they wanted to avoid some kind of economic backlash from the Christian right.

In the end, we will never know, but everyone should understand that the people who hand out awards, Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, etc. are very, very conservative business people. Pat Boone has more Grammys than the Beatles and Elvis.

[meisje]

1. here is what I think

:eyes:

[Toucano]

2. No. They're both good films.

"Brokeback" got Best Director.
"Crash" got Best Picture.

"Brokeback" got Best Adapted Screenplay.
"Crash" got Best Original Screenplay.

It's a win-win.

[Warpy]

3. They played it safe when picking the winner

but they took their big chances when they chose the nominees. It's rare a winner is chosen once it's finished its theater run. However, the nominations will ensure that the films still in the theaters will have more interest generated.

I'm just glad they gave the cold shoulder to the steaming pile of Sith.

[WCGreen]

4. There were an unusual number of good movies...

No dominate movie this year....

What happens is votes are spread across....

I don't think "hollywood" thinks that way....

Remember that a lot of people do the voting...

Unless, of course, you believe Diebold is behind it......

[Viva_La_Revolution]

5. no, at least not concerning Brokeback...

see this thread from last night, specifically pay attention to the fact that they won 3 of the 8 awards they were nominated for.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2495282

I do think they made Stewart tone down his act, because he was not even funny... but that deserves it's own thread.

[jeffrey_X]

6. How did they bow? Brokeback won 3 Oscars?

I'm confused.

[jackbourassa]

9. I've never seen such whining by people for losing ONE award

Because everything else happened the way it was expected. This Brokeback Mountain bellyaching is getting out of control. Crash was a better film, and I think it deserved to win.

Clooney and Weisz were the frontrunners for supporting acting.

Witherspoon and Hoffman were the frontrunners for acting.

So Brokeback was expected to lose those awards.

Crash won for editing.

Brokeback won for sound.

They each won their respective screenplay awards. (Crash for original; Brokeback for adapted)

Ang Lee won for best Director.

Crash won for best film.

Each film won 3 Academy Awards. If Brokeback had won Best Picture, there would be no crying today. What's the difference between winning 4 Oscars vs. 3? T'was no great conspiracy. The best film won. No one was robbed.

[LostinVA]

34. Although I wanted all the actors to win

The odds were none of them would -- except MAYBE Williams. Rachael Weisz had a flashier role, and she was very, very good in it.

I was rooting for Matt Dillon, personally! But Clooney won! Yay! And, there's no way PSH wouldn't win for Capote.

BBN "lost" last night? No frigging way! Are you all LISTENING to yourselves? A movie about two men in love was nominated for eight awards, too home a a decent amount, won Golden Globe, Independent Spirit, etc., has done great box office, lauded by critics, etc.

BBN WAS A SUCCESS LAST NIGHT!!! And, a movie about racism that didn't have Jessica Tandy in it won! Two GLBT-themed movies were Best Pic noms.

Quit looking for bad news where there isn't any. Celebrate last night -- it was one for the good guys, all around.

[rocktivity]

7. No, the Freep Media just wanted to make it look that way

by asking if Hollywood "is out of touch with mainstream America" by making AND nominating gay/transsexual films. Why? So they can act like they "pressured" Hollywood with Brokeback not winning best picture.

:headbang:
rocknation

[vi5]

8. It's not like Crash was a conservative movie....

Crash was just as political (actually I think it was more outwardly politican than Brokeback was). Overall I think it was the stronger movie. Brokeback was good but it was good in a way very specific of the direction which I think is why Ang Lee won for direction but Crash won as best picture. It was the better overall movie I thought.

[LostinVA]

35. I think it's more controversial, definitely

[cascadiance]

45. But perhaps Crash wasn't as much of a "threat" to the establishment now...

Brokeback Mountain would upset fundies who support this administration...

Good Night, and Good Luck winning anything (and allowing Clooney an extra speech) would potentially allow an attack at the core of this administration's threats to our civil liberties, freedom of the press, etc. that is happening now.

I've not seen Crash yet (to be fair), but my gut feeling is that even though it sounds like a very good movie dealing with racism, etc., that it wasn't directly confronting the administration/corporate America in power now as the others were.

Now next year or in some of the coming years if not then, if there's a decent film on Hurricane Katrina (and it sounds like there are at least six films shooting down there now), and the charges of racism are in effect leveled at this administration, then those might be squeezed out too. Hopefully not, but a well done movie about Katrina could be an even bigger threat AND deal with the issues of racism. Then again, perhaps this administration won't be in power then, so it won't e perceived as big a threat then as something like that would be now.

[SoCalDem]

10. The "Hollywood" community is a tight-knit group

and actors vote for actors, directors for directors, etc.. All vote for best picture, but I assume there is some "spread-it-around" thinking involved in the voting, so I'm sure they vote for their friends..

If you look at all the winners, MOST projects garnered an award for someone on the project (Transamerica got skunked though)..

It would be an interesting experiment to see who would win if there was no "list of 5" ..If they all got a "fill-in-the-blanks" ballot..

That might be an exciting evening.. They should try it..:)

[cali]

11. Digging pretty far back, aren't you?

When was the last time Pat Boone won a Grammy? Not to mention that the Grammys aren't the Oscars. And how do you know that the people handing out the Oscar awards are "very, very conservative? Sounds like conjecture to me. If you have some sort of proof, please provide it.
I must say, this whole stir about the best picture award seems silly to me. This was a year where smaller movies that were actually about the human condition, rather than special effects block busters, prevailed. That's a good thing, and that's what counts.

[Lerkfish]

12. no conspiracy, IMHO, its a peer award.

directors vote for directors, actors for actors, etc.
I wouldn't read any conspiracy into it, unless you think all the academy members are in on a mission to appear more right wing and bow to pressure.

[bunkerbuster1]

13. I think we shouldn't fall into the same trap as the RWers

and read wayyyy too much into the Oscar voting.

Obviously there were some good films to pick from, and the votes got split. The Best Director award ain't exactly chopped liver.

[saracat]

14. As a voting member of SAG, And Crash won that award as well

I think Crash was a far superior film. Flame me if you will but the storyline to "Brokeback was weak. If the charcters were not gay, there wasn't a story. Some will say "Duh!" that was the point, but the fact was , these people weren't fleshed out. We had fabulous acting , great scenery , and no story. And McMurty is one of the sorest losers I have ever seen. THe whining is unbeleivable.

[Divernan]

15. Crash was totally independent of the Hollywood establishment

First of all, it's clear you didn't see either film, or you wouldn't have made your comment. Crash was a searing look at the multiple threads of racism in our society, and how racism feeds off the stress (often related to an individual's economic struggles to make a living) of our daily lives to produce unanticipated violent results. It was a low budget film which won at the Sundance Film Festival and only then was picked up by Lionsgate for national distribution. It is a film which the "conservative business people" would never have funded.

Why do you think these Oscar voters are afraid to endorse the theme of homosexuality, when Philip Seymour Hoffman won Best Actor for Capote? (Did you see that film, either? It was a tour de force for this powerful actor! - I told my friends after I saw it that I had just seen the year's Best Actor performance.)

The voting in the Oscars is by thousands of basic workers in the industry. They did themselves proud this year with both the nominations and the awards. Hopefully the message will get through to the corporate moguls at the major studios that these are the kind of films they should be making.

Your comparison of Pat Boone with the Beatles and Elvis is bizarre. We're talking very different audience demographics and cultural milieus. I adored Pat Boone when I was about 12. His popularity quickly faded, as opposed to the Beatles or Elvis.

[MadHound]

16. No, they didn't bow to political pressure

It was simply the Academy being the Academy. In the past they have awarded films that I thought were crap, passed over some I thought were great, and sometimes they get it right. It is all a matter of opinion anyway, and quite frankly it is all about Hollywood vanity in the first place.

[babylonsister]

17. I thought the winner was voted on, not selected by the Academy.

So, no, seems the voters liked 'Crash' better. I've only seen 'Crash', but liked it a lot. And for the most part, I think the voters are more liberal than conservative.

[LostinVA]

37. It is voted on

[gatorboy]

18. Ang Lee still won director though.

And Clooney's actor award for Syriana shows they aren't afraid to reward the more liberal films.
My take is that a majority of the Oscar voters are actors and I think they preferred "Crash" because it was an esemble piece giving alot of actors room to show off their acting chops. Though I preferred "Crash" when it was called "Grand Canyon" :P

[Mike03]

23. Thank God

Thank you for invoking "Grand Canyon." I have been telling people who like "Crash" to check Kasdan's film out. I agree with you 100%.

[themaguffin]

19. I hate this assumption that Brokeback was best

There were several excellent - EXCELLENT films in '05.

Hell, I think that Goodnight & Good luck is the quiet gem in the bunch. One that will be looked at years later. Sure Brokeback is a good movie, but one of many....

[Armstead]

20. No. The Academy Awards compare apples to oranges all the time

How do you judge "best" picture anyway?

Crash and Brokeback Mountain are two totally different films. For thrills and chills, King Kong was a much better film than Brokeback Mountain. For gripping political drama of the old school, Good Night and Good Luk was the best picture.

[LostinVA]

39. And, true comedies (and their actors) are usually ignored

Exactly right.

[peacetalksforall]

21. I think the Oscars should be recognized as just one of the awards

programs. We give it all the attention because of tradition. I don't think it's as important anymore.

I thought there was only one great acceptance speech last night - the guy from South Africa for the film, Tsotsi.

[LostinVA]

40. I've been told by someone in the biz that SAG is better respected

[npincus]

22. My Mom liked "Crash" better than "Brokeback"

don't dis my Mommy! She thought they were both geat, but prefered "Crash".

i only saw "Crash", and I loved it.

[semillama]

24. Name a "conservative" film that was nominated for Best Picture

anyone? no? then what's the problem? (and no, "Walk The Line" doesn't count because it has country music . . .)

I had no problem with the actual awards (although I though "The New World" should have been nominated and won for Sound Editing...).

[negativenihil]

25. I've yet to see Brokeback...

However, i did see Crash just before the Oscars and i have to say i am very glad it won. Crash really was best picture material.

I will probably see Brokeback sometime this week.

I may have spaced out, but did Munich end up winning anything? IMO that film deserved a nod of some sort.

[mondo joe]

26. Oscar almost always goes SAFE/MEDIOCRE for best pic. This was no

different. Crash is to race as Traffic was to drugs.

[themaguffin]

28. like Midnight Cowboy?

That was rated X and it was over 30 years ago. Surely, a bigger deal then than anything released in 2005. Brokeback had serious competition. It wasn't there's to lose to begin with. People, please put this into perspective.

[mondo joe]

30. Like I said - ALMOST always. But even in the Cowboy case, you have to

look at the times. In its day, given the rise of the boomer sensibility, Cowboy was pretty safe.

[LostinVA]

41. And, most of the insiders have been saying Crash could edge out BBN

And, that's what happened.

[Odin2005]

27. "Crash" and "Munich" were better movies, IMO.

As I said in another thread, a so-so movie with gay characters is still a so-so movie. The Oscars are supposed to go to the best movies, they are not there make a political statement by giving it to a so-so movie with gay chatacters. Plot-wise, "Brokeback" was just another B-level romance western that just happens to be a homosexual relationship.

[noonwitch]

29. I didn't see any of the movies

I don't think "Crash" won over any other movie for political reasons. I think the voters voted for what they thought was the best movie. I have only heard good things about it.

[Johonny]

31. Gladiator

They picked Gladiator for best picture!!! Who gives a %$@#% what they think.

[f-bush]

32. If you listened to the acceptance speech by Crash staffers

they are very political and very justice oriented. I am not dissapointed. I just think the right wing is trying to bullshit the American public in callin g a victory where there was none. You gotta remmeber that their clout is now waning and they'll puff themselves up where ever they think they can get away with it!

[LostinVA]

33. Personally? I think they picked the more controversial one

as the winner.

[LostinVA]

36. The Oscars aren't handed out by producers, etc.

[rustydog]

38. Crash was an excellent movie. Dillon, hell everyone was good

in it.
It is a movie that makes you think as it entertains you.

[LostinVA]

42. It literally gripped me

[onenote]

43. The "Academy" is not a monolith

Its 6000 individuals, each of whom is entitled to vote in every category, whether or not they've seen a film. They vote based on any number of factors, including professional and personal friendships and jealousies. None of us know whether Crash beat out BBM by one vote or a 1000 votes. Suggesting that the "Academy" bowed to political pressures simply ignores the reality of how the process works. SUre, some members of the Academy may have voted for a movie other than BBM because they were uncomfortable with its content. Other members may have voted for it because they wanted to "send a message". Yet others may have voted for it for the entirely selfish reason that they are going to be working with Ang Lee on his next picture and wanted to be associated with a film by the director of the previous year's "best picture" award. The process is entirely and inherently subjective and looking for conspiracies and agendas is basically a waste of time.

onenote

[Dorian Gray]

44. It's a bunch of self-important

people voting for their best friends. Each year, there is a travesty. Jamie Foxx winning for Collateral? Bullshit! Russel Crowe winning for Gladiator rather than The Insider? It happens all the time.

This year, the Academy probably liked the sheer numbers of bankable stars in Crash. It took place in LA. They thought that they were being socially forward in nominating that film, and then in voting for it. It's little more than them perpetuating their self-importance.

What I think is more annoying is their lack of response to John Stewart. They were lukewarm to him, at best.