I have been to all sorts of award ceremonies, some better attended than others but they are all the same. The quality of the production is almost always determined by the number of people who want to attend. Every association I have been a part of holds award ceremonies to recognize their best. The academy awards are no different than any other; the difference is simply in the number of people who want to watch.

I have heard many a critic call the Academy Awards self-aggrandizing and pure egotism, but these same people look forward with hopeful anticipation that they too will be recognized at their own parade of champions. For some reason it is ok to recognize engineers, real estate sales reps and dog trainers but not singers or actors. I wonder if the critics are fundamentally jealous and rather than confront their own mediocrity, they choose to criticize those who are more successful than themselves.

There is Nothing Wrong with Award Ceremonies

I personally have never watched the Academy Awards, or any other televised award ceremony. I just find them boring. I do, however, check the news the next day to see who won, and then off to youtube to catch the highlights. The Oscars and Grammys and such are produced by the best and brightest entertainers alive, and the acts are drawn from equally amazing talent. There is no doubt that these productions are spectacular. I just have never cared for the suspense. Clearly, however, millions upon millions of other disagree with me. People gather around their TV sets riveted for the few hours they are permitted to see. The shows are not spectacular to appease the egos of the hopeful entertainers; the shows are spectacular because you the viewer want to be entertained.

So if you are a critic of the awards, get off your holier than though high horse and go be successful yourself. These awards exist because the patrons demand them to be so.

But, if you would indulge me, I do have a few concerns, however is it not with the awards but some of the people, because we need to separate the people from the ceremony.

Perils of the Podium

David Von Drehle in his Time Magazine article ‘Movie Stars and the Perils of the Podium’ raises one of them. In referring to a highly political anti-Trump acceptance speech by Meryl Streep at the Golden Globes, Mr Von Drehle comments ‘it was, as you might expect, a beautifully crafted speech, delivered with the winsome charm and natural cadences that audiences have come to love from an actor with 19 academy award nominations” but as he explains “whatever Streep’s intentions may have been, her words enabled Trump – and us – to indulge in yet another distraction”.

And why? “the well-spoken wisdom of beautiful people in glittering gowns and bespoke suits rarely has lasting effect. The cause of Native Americans was not appreciably advanced by Marlon Brando’s boycott of his Best actor Oscar in 1973. Nor were many minds changed when Vanessa Redgrave rambled in 1978 about the threat of Zionists and fascism”.

So how can these Hollywood types effect change? Mr Von Drehle explains it well: “Art derives its power not by being timely but by being timeless for timelessness outlasts division.” And this is one of my criticisms. If you have something to say, please do not ooze hypocrisy from the pulpit, say it through your art. Before you start preaching about inclusion, tolerance and understanding, try living it yourselves. These heavy players had just this change at the recent academy awards but they universally failed miserably. When handing out the envelope for pest picture, a representative from Price Waterhouse Cooper accidentally handed the wrong envelope to the presenters and as a result, the wrong winner was announced for best picture.

The Envelope was not the Problem

It was a simple and small mistake that will be forgotten within a few weeks – news media only refer to it because they know millions of viewers will read their news articles and subsequently view their ads. They have a captive audience. The reality is, this was a non-story. The mistake caused no loss of jobs, no loss of income, no disease and no threat to anyone. The academy responded by demanding an apology and firing the company responsible, as if the entire company was responsible for a catastrophic offence that devastated the entertainment industry. Give me a break. This was a chance for the academy and their affiliated actors to show their moral superiority and they failed.

There is no shortage of gossip articles about how mean such and such an actor is and how much of a diva such and such a singer is; but having met a few famous artists in my life, I know there are many who are kind and generous. I recall meeting the musicians of Super Tramps in my youth – they were welcoming and kind. I recall meeting Shania Twain in a recording studio – a class act. So the industry is not rotten, it is no more rotten than the rest of the world, but the industry in general needs to separate themselves from the political crusades of the few. When the likes of Meryl Streep sounds off in an interview, that is her own opinion, but when she is allowed to speak at an industry function and subsequently be applauded for it, she is now representing the whole lot of them.   They are not scientists or psychologists. They know nothing about the oil sands, and they should not be preaching about saving the environment when their lifestyle is in such contradiction.

Enough with the Hypocrisy

Go make your movies, write your songs, and entertain us in your sitcoms, and receive the accolades you so rightfully deserve at the award shows that us untalented nobodies crave so much. The Academy Awards is not the actors, and the actors are not all hypocrites.

I am reminded of a gaff by Leo Dicaprio who witnessed a Chinook in Alberta Canada while filming a movie and he acted as if he saw the Messiah of global warming.

Albertans poke fun at Leo Dicaprio

As Leo crusades against the oil fields, he may have a big heart but he has no scientific understanding of the industry or the weather. Don’t get me started on Al Gores “ Inconvenient Truth”. I am not trying to argue that global warming does not exist, the science is clear. What I am arguing is that celebrities should stay out of politics and focus their energy on walking their own walk. And critics of these celebrity crusaders need to also realize that not all celebrities are the same. Leo Decaprio does not represent ‘Hollywood’. Hollywood is made up of 10’s of thousands of individuals with varying opinions and diverse methods of engaging the world around them.

I may never watch the Academy Awards, or Golden Globes, or People Choice or the dozens of other aware shows set up to showcase entertainers; but there is nothing fundamentally wrong with them. I just wish the uber rich would stop crying about the environment as they drive in their Bugattis, and stop screaming about liberal causes as they produce movies and TV shows completely devoid of those values.

LA Times – Disabilities and Hollywood

As the article points out, 90% of disabled characters are played by able bodied actors. Programming white-washes our world, and many movie stars are more focused on their fame than family values. I recall that the year Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise broke up, they each made multiple movies. Rather than save their marriage, they built their careers to earn money they did not need. This shows where their values are placed. They preach about equality and justice but their hearts are far from it.

So there is my rant. Do not confuse the awards with the players, and do not label all the players based on the few hypocrites that parade in front of the camera. But unless the Academy and other such productions get control of their own people, they will be tainted with the same hypocrisy. The Academy can start by apologizing to Price Waterhouse Cooper for over reacting, and by publicly distancing themselves from political statements made at their podiums. Many of these stars line up to protect the likes of the racist and anti-Semitic Mel Gibson, all the while destroying the career of an accountant just because he passed the wrong envelope. This behavior is neither timely nor timeless and we should call them on it.