I have withheld my judgment over the loss of “
Brokeback Mountain” at the
Academy Awards because I hadn’t seen the “best picture” winner, “
Crash”. Well, I have just finished watching it and am thoroughly disappointed, though not entirely surprised, by the
academy’s clichéd pick. I can now render my opinionated rant, fully informed.
Having been raised in L.A., been there during the
riots, schooled in the
LAUSD, and ridden the
RTD,
I can speak from my own experience that racism (and yes, there is a
great deal of racism in all the directions that the movie points out)
generally does not come in that overt a package. Don’t we wish you
could put your finger on it that easily. Racism is far more subtle, and
I never bought that these characters would be so open about their
racism if they were real people. I also didn’t buy the coincidences and
epiphanies which tied the movie up in such a neat package. And if I
can’t buy the premise, I can’t really get on board with the movie,
personally. The final dealbreaker for me: Isn’t “snow in L.A.” a tired,
used-up old metaphor (a la “
Father of the Bride”
and about a million dumb T.V. shows)? I grew up there and saw snow for
about ten minutes in the mid 80's which promptly melted. It doesn’t
snow in L.A. Get over it. To show it snowing in a movie which is not
surrealistic, is just lame. It’s not fresh, it’s not new, and it’s not
Oscar worthy. Filmmakers, take note.
In any case, it’s a shame the academy was so thirsty to show how
“open-minded” and down-with-it it was, that it voted for a showy
button-pusher with cliches about racism rather than the understated
turbulence of Brokeback Mountain, which reveals the true issues of bias
and judgment which are usually not spoken out loud and are instead
bottled up (kudos to
Heath Ledger
on that count). Ironically, the Academy’s choice revealed the very lack
of openmindedness that they believed voting for “Crash” would showcase.
Blech. Stop trying so hard, Beverly Hills housewives (aka, “The
Academy”, who like,
so understand because their “Maria” is, like,
their best friend
too). We know “
It’s Hard Out Here For a Pimp”, yo. You’re so f’ing hip n’ shit. We get it. You know who it’s
really hard out here for? A
gay cowboy.
