When the Oscar Goes to sh...

I rarely get very excited when Sunday nights roll around.
It means that in a few hours I will begin the continuous work/school/work cycle for another five days. However, Sunday March 7, 2010 made me giggle with glee and claim a spot in front of the television. It even dictated when dinner was had!

This Sunday was Oscar night.

I often find myself extremely disappointed with the Academy choices, but to each their own. I am aware that the public is all but blind to the campaigning that takes place for the Oscar race behind Hollywood's golden doors. Even the ceremonies themselves has a history of being drawn out and excruciatingly blase, yet I refuse to prepare myself for the worst.

This year I should have prepared myself.

The prospect of Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin hosting the show seemed promising...until they started speaking (I'm not even going to get into the NPH musical debacle). Steve and Alec's relationship was too contrived and their jokes were either only mildly amusing or disgustingly offensive. There was no happy medium here, they were far from being the ones ying to the others yang.

The producers, although hardworking as they may be, made some serious gaps in judgment, foregoing class in lieu of trying to pull in a larger and younger audience. They did this last year as well. Ratings are important no doubt, but the credibility of the Academy is beginning to crumble. Although I quite enjoyed the horror genre montage, it was not appropriate for the setting as it didn't tie in with anything else. Can someone explain to me how Twilight is a horror film? Not possible.

As a non-fan of post modern dance routines (which seem to be gaining television popularity), I think that whole bit could have been completely omitted from the program altogether. Maybe then the Academy would have had time to include two five-second clips of Farrah Fawcett and Bea Arthur as the Academy's excuse was lack of time. Although I believe I saw Brittany Murphy on screen twice and even a vignette of Michael Jackson.

As for the awards themselves, the Academy is attempting to cater to younger audiences and trying to shock people with their choices. While they may have achieved the former, the latter still needs work.