The Oscars Must Die

I could not agree more with your article. I don't give a damn about the Oscar''s or Hollywood. It's time for it's demise and good ridance.

Oscars???. If I want somebody???s political opinion, I could watch CNN.

The funny thing is we have an automatic mechanism to decide when to end the Oscars - ratings. The real blather is from everyone who bothers to argue that it should just be ended. No show lives or dies because one magazine writer, a dozen bloggers, and a few dozen anonymous snarkmeisters rant about it. Hey, the last memorable play in the Super Bowl was Joe Montana finding Dwight Clark in the end zone. And that happened before most of the Super 'Bowl audience was born.

Marc Peyser and a good many of the posters here overlook the several of the larger issues here, such as the long-term picture for screenwriters and the current economic effects of the strike. The temptation is to indulge in schadenfreude and view the cancellation of a few shows as fitting punishment for the wealthy and privileged, but as many media outlets have reported, both the strike and cancellation or cutting back of awards shows translate into a loss of work for all the people you haven't heard of but do matter very much in the scheme of things: the caterers, drivers, seamstresses, tailors, electricians and others. Imagine greatly reduced or nonexistent income for a period of months and what that would mean for your family. Then multiply that by thousands and imagine its effect on a community, the nation, and the industry as a whole, including worldwide..

Unfortunately, Peyser and some of the posters here want to have it both ways by disparaging the celebrity culture and then whining that awards shows give too much attention to the less famous. One of the uglier by-products of our fast-paced media-driven culture is the spectacle of the dismissive, shallow, and often downright cruel comments posted in online forums such as this one. People are assigning entirely too much weight to their short attention spans, ignorance, and/or moods. It really doesn't matter if you haven't heard of a 1940s star featured in the "In Memoriam" segment or don't care who the cinematographer was on a particular film, but is likely that the work of such artists will enrich the human race for decades to come.

Oscars? Where? Who Cares? I agree completely - let the Oscars go. Who would miss it?

Let them have their lime light. Heaven knows they paid the price of freedom for it. They have to be rich to buy those houses where no one can spy on them. They have to pay for their own protection even if they aren't so famous anymore. There are some decent whole actors but most of them choose this lifestyle to feel a void they have in their life, which is really very sad. When then they find themselves still really more alone than ever they go to drugs. I enjoy going to the movies to get away from life for two hours when things are hectic, they really don't have a place to go to. Yes they did this to themselves but we the audience created a place for them to do it.

I honestly would be pretty happy if the Oscars went down the toliet. In fact, I think all of Hollywood should be flushed down the tubes. Hollywood is the moral pit hole of not only America, but of the entire world itself. Why does society give such people so much influence and recognition? Do they really deserve it? I don't think so. It's sad to see that people actually care so much for losers like Brittany Spears, Lindsy Lohan, Paris Hilton, ect. People need to look for better influences and better people to look up to and admire then the scum of Hollywood.

As an animator I was highly offended by the ignorant statement "When you've won an Oscar for best animated short, the statue should be enough recognition." Obviously the author has little idea of how an animated film is made, of the hours and months of little sleep and painstaking work (especially in shorts, which are sometimes student/independent films). These filmmakers are not Jessica Alba or Angelina Jolie; they dont have the luxury to simply spew out a few lines some talented writer has written for them and sit down whilst makeup touches up their mascara for them. The only thing worth watching in the Oscars are the more technical awards, for the unsung heroes that toil endlessly to make the incredible monsters that attack the dense bimbo. To shorten the Oscars I'd suggest the actors cease blathering on about how how hard they worked for two days against a blue screen. Sorry folks, but all Halle Berry has ever had to do is look hot.

My only comment is that the Oscars are harmless fun...Unlike the endless barrage of reality shows popping up at an exponential rate on prime time networks. The latest is a show involving kids and their dads where the dad competes to be "the best"...What happens to the kid who's dad loses and is humiliated in front of millions of rabid viewers? Does he grow up to become the next Columbine killer? Why do we as Americans think this is entertainment? What is wrong with us that we take pleasure in seeing others suffer?

I am in total agreement with the article and Jackman97. All of these shows are about as entertaining as the emrgency broadcast signal. Get this trash off the air!! Come on (!!!!), do we all have so little going on in our lives that we need this sort of crappy entertainment?????????????

all these award shows are are boring. why do these overpaid, overpampered, and mostly under talented people need more adulation. are they all insecure? I do nopt watch any award show ever. I would rather wtach paint dry.

Well, friends, like it or not, the Oscars aren't going to go away, even if they get cancelled this time around. The producers really COULD trim it down a little - do we really need to know who won for best foreign language animated documentary? I don't even know where to view most of the shorts that are nominated, unless they happen to come with a DVD that I buy for the kids. Best Actor/Actress, Supporter, Music, Director, Film (only Film, not Original Screenplay AND Adapted Whatever - a film is a film), and mabye mention those for FX, costumes, etc. Won't ever happen, of course, but I feel better for having said so :-)

Comment: All of these so called self serving award shows should be ripped off the air forever along with all the stupid programs like 'Insider', 'Entertainment Tonight', 'E', 'Soup' etc. etc. All the people who earn their living in the genre should be relegated to a dung heap forever!

Big surprise - you had to go back and read some reviews of past oscar nights. If there is anything more useless than an awards show it is articles about them - especially written by idiots who can't remember them anyway. Do you know how many years ago the Snow White opening was? Give them some credit. The only think that really needs to change is tone down the dancy-Nancy factor. If there's an inspired editing bit, like Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling while the Posiedon turns over, great - more of that. Your article is the equivalent of Joan Rivers red carpet crap. "Who are you wearing?" Wearing thin.

Big surprise - you had to go back and read some reviews of past oscar nights. If there is anything more useless than an awards show it is articles about them - especially written by idiots who can't remember them anyway. Do you know how many years ago the Snow White opening was? Give them some credit. The only think that really needs to change is tone down the dancy-Nancy factor. If there's an inspired editing bit, like Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling while the Posiedon turns over, great - more of that. Your article is the equivalent of Joan Rivers red carpet crap. "Who are you wearing?" Wearing thin.

This dog and pony show -- the Oscars -- is only for the rich and privileged. I mean.....who REALLY cares what this actress wore or what that actor said?? Why don't these pompous, arrogant snobs start investing their money on the homeless and the hungry in this country?? Nah.....the Oscars don't hold any appeal for me. I wish the entire spectacle would just GO AWAY!!!!!

We Peons do not get the opportunity to see or hear the Pantheon of Players like you are afforded from your niche in the 'heavenlies'....Tired of the view? Go check out pro football! Let me have a three hour fix of fantasy with my chips and salsa in front of the '90's TV box. CPLakewood