Oh Oscar
Where was King Kong When We Needed Him…
Stop reading right now if you loved the Oscars last night. Let me preface this blog by saying Oscars night has always been one of my favorite nights of the year. I would wear fancy pajamas, eat hors d’oeuvres, and drink champagne while watching the red carpet and award ceremony. More recently, when the world was open and I had clients around town on Oscar night, it was busy and exhausting but still fun. This year was the worst Oscars ever! I don’t even know where to begin except to say that I am glad I was busy and had to watch it on my DVR. Between the awful jokes to the speeches that needed captions (if I knew I’d be reading I would’ve had my glasses nearby) it was a total mess.
They had months to prepare for this yet it looked like it was thrown together at the last minute. Perhaps they should’ve let the late night hosts organize it. Fallon, Kimmel, and Corden seemed to have a handle on filming a show during Covid. I’m sure producers could’ve enlisted the help of Jimmy Fallon’s kids to help with production. They did a great job helping Jimmy with his show. Heck producers could’ve had fans announce the nominees over Zoom. Anything to liven up the show.
The only time things moved quickly was during the In Memoriam segment which is one of the most beautiful parts of the show. Usually it’s a solemn song that honors the legacy of those that we lost. This year the song was felt as if we were at a cocktail party. Really?! We had one of the worst years in history and producers choose an upbeat song while flashing names so fast you could barely read them. More time was spent doing “Da Butt” with Glenn Close than honoring those that changed the acting landscape and are no longer with us.
I miss the Oscars of years gone by when it was a classy, yet fun show. Remember the years with Billy Crystal as host? Those were great shows. I realize this year was a challenge, but this is Hollywood. There are plenty of people with brilliant ideas yet this is the best they could come up with?
I was hoping for something a little more like the Emmys hosted by Kimmel in 2020. That was a fun show! Yes, most of the show was over Zoom, but I enjoyed seeing the nominees in their homes with their families. It was especially fun to watch them try to keep smiling when they lost but knew they were still on the Zoom feed. I understand this year The Oscars were trying to be more diverse, however diversity should not mean boring.
In my opinion the best part about the Oscars last night were the lamps on the tables. I was even disappointed in what wardrobe some chose to wear. I think Laura Dern’s outfit was meant to make sure she didn’t have anyone closer to her than 6 feet and poor Halle Berry apparently had to cut her own hair during quarantine. Both beautiful and talented women, however last night they didn’t look much better than I did in my pajamas watching the show.
In no way am I trying to diminish the fact that there were important moments and winners at last night. I am just saying what most people were thinking. Oh, Oscar…what happened?
Until Next Time….Salute