# Are the Oscars out of touch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2014, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640 "2014-01-13T05:57:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/61 "2014-01-15T19:58:02Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Of course public preference expressed as dollars is an inarguable index of artistic and creative quality. If that’s not true, then what does the OP have on their side of the argument? It’s true, but only sometimes? It’s true, but only if a specific person agrees? It’s true, but only if a small group of people agree? How about this: require the Best Picture award only go to one of the top 5 biggest blockbusters. Better? If you say it’s wrong to think this way, I don’t see how you can argue the OP has a leg to stand on. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/62 "2014-01-15T20:05:40Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The Oscars are the awards that Hollywood gives to itself. Everything about them has to be viewed through that lens. > > So out of touch with whom? Themselves? No. And themselves is the only selves that matter. What the hell does the public have to do with an industry trade show? This is what I came in to point out. In the biz the Oscars are so valued because they are awarded by your peers, not critics or audiences. An actor can win Golden Globes, People’s Choice, and many other awards, but it’s the recognition by their colleagues that they value most. Outside of the industry they’re only valued so highly because for years they were the only movie awards known to most people, and presented with increasing pomp and circumstance over the years. ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/63 "2014-01-15T20:14:26Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’ll take 80 votes from film-literate journalists over 6000 instances of autofellatio. Sure! Where is the award voted on by film-literate journalists? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/64 "2014-01-15T20:58:30Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > The Oscars are voted on by people working in the film industry… Maybe. Supposedly a lot of the (especially older) members give their ballot to their kids, spouse, gardener, etc… > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I’ll also point out that **Smokey and the Bandit** was #4 in box office that year. Where is the justice??? That’s Sheriff **BUFORD T.** Justice! ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/65 "2014-01-15T21:47:02Z")
> [@pricciar](#): > > Sure! Where is the award voted on by film-literate journalists? I know right? Because the Hollywood Foreign “Press” sure isn’t it. This link was posted upthread but needs repeating, apparently. [http://www.tbd.com/articles/2011/01/in-defense-of-the-golden-globes-45167.html](http://www.tbd.com/articles/2011/01/in-defense-of-the-golden-globes-45167.html) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/66 "2014-01-16T01:26:23Z")
There are no movie awards that can be described as really pretty good, let alone as objective. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Bupkis. There are some that strike me as better than others, but even those aren’t very good. Here are some of the many best film of the year awards given out each year: > **[Category:Awards for best film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Awards_for_best_film)** > > This category has the following 56 subcategories, out of 56 total. > The following 159 pages are in this category, out of 159 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. So, you ask, how should you figure out what the best films of a given year are? The answer is that there isn’t any simple way to do it. If you want to see a pretty good selection of the best films for your current year, you read a lot of reviews, listen to the opinions of a lot of friends who know something about movies, and see a lot of the films that win various awards. If you want to see a pretty good selection of the best movies of all time, you read a lot of books about film, listen to the opinions of people who know a lot about film, and look though a lot of books or websites or articles with titles like _The Best Films of All Time_ or _The Best Underrated Films of All Time_s or _The Best \_\_\_\_\_ Films of All Time_ (where you fill in the blank with a genre). I’ve been doing something like this. I’ve been collecting personal and critical lists of films from many sources for years now. I’ve got a list of 8,000 films that someone recommends and a list of 250 of the most often recommended ones. You’re thinking that that must be just about all films. No, it’s maybe 1% of all movies ever made. The list is very diverse, with films from many countries and many years. I won’t ever see all of them (and some of them are impossible to see). I’ll be happy to see everything on the list of 250 movies someday. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/67 "2014-01-16T04:29:05Z")
> [@pricciar](#): > > Sure! Where is the award voted on by film-literate journalists? There’s the National Society of Film Critics. Admittedly it only has around sixty members but its choices seem reasonably good. In the last ten years, it’s given its annual Best Picture award to: _Million Dollar Baby, Capote, Pan’s Labyrinth, There Will Be Blood, Waltz with Bashir, The Hurt Locker, The Social Network, Melancholia, Amour_, and _Inside Llewyn Davis_. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/68 "2014-01-16T07:25:33Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Maybe. Supposedly a lot of the (especially older) members give their ballot to their kids, spouse, gardener, etc… > > That’s Sheriff **BUFORD T.** Justice! _Smokey and the Bandit,_ eh? That says a lot to me about 1) the movie itself and 2) the people to whom such a movie appeals. _De gustibus non est disputandum._ ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/69 "2014-01-16T14:06:07Z")
A-hem. _Smokey and the Bandit_ is, by far, the greatest movie to feature a [basset hound in a named role](http://files.dogster.com/pix/grp/06/10006/10006_1187459683.jpg). Lovers of the breed watch an entirely different movie: while most follow a story about two rednecks bootlegging beer, some of us are watching the greatest road trip, _ever_, from the dog’s point of view. In the course of this film (_not_ “movie”), Fred… … Barks at traffic … Howls/sings with his owner … Eats greasy burgers … Gets rubbed and talked to a lot … Sits in the front seat of an 18-wheeler with a clear view and lots of space on the seat in which to nap … Sticks his head out of the window … Goes for a swim … Gets captured by Evil Bikers … Eats greasy burgers … Is the center of attention in a bar fight which results in over $20,000 of collateral damage … Is away from the kids (nobody pulling at my ears!) … Is with his alpha … Gets loved on by a prime-of-her-life Sally Field … Is going fast … Eats greasy burgers And, at the end of the movie, the best resolution ever: Another road trip, this time to Boston. Fred in DC and NY! It would have been the greatest sequel ever, topping even _Aliens_. But the producers forgot who the star that made SATB, and dropped Fred’s story. We truly have been denied a classic… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/70 "2014-01-16T15:06:09Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > There are no movie awards that can be described as really pretty good, let alone as objective. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Bupkis. Says it all. In the end, even the most crassly commercial film is a creative endeavor, subject to individual interpretation and evaluation. I suspect I am not alone in that if I had to grab ten films from my shelf to keep me for the next year, one or two would be what most people think are real stinkers. I think the essential point to carry away from this thread is that the Academy Awards are not the pinnacle, broadly-representative, meaningful awards they try to make us believe they are. They are the industry rewarding itself, for its own reasons and to its own ends. They are no more meaningful than advertising awards - which are about one step above the “awards” given to everyone at birthday parties and grade-school competitions. Oscars are interesting. They’re just not very meaningful. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/71 "2014-01-16T17:54:04Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > A-hem. > > _Smokey and the Bandit_ is, by far, the greatest movie to feature a [basset hound in a named role](http://files.dogster.com/pix/grp/06/10006/10006_1187459683.jpg). Lovers of the breed watch an entirely different movie: while most follow a story about two rednecks bootlegging beer, some of us are watching the greatest road trip, _ever_, from the dog’s point of view. > > In the course of this film (_not_ “movie”), Fred… > > … Barks at traffic > … Howls/sings with his owner > … Eats greasy burgers > … Gets rubbed and talked to a lot > … Sits in the front seat of an 18-wheeler with a clear view and lots of space on the seat in which to nap > … Sticks his head out of the window > … Goes for a swim > … Gets captured by Evil Bikers > … Eats greasy burgers > … Is the center of attention in a bar fight which results in over $20,000 of collateral damage > … Is away from the kids (nobody pulling at my ears!) > … Is with his alpha > … Gets loved on by a prime-of-her-life Sally Field > … Is going fast > … Eats greasy burgers > > And, at the end of the movie, the best resolution ever: Another road trip, this time to Boston. Fred in DC and NY! It would have been the greatest sequel ever, topping even _Aliens_. But the producers forgot who the star that made SATB, and dropped Fred’s story. > > We truly have been denied a classic… ☹ What you failed to mention is the destruction of (a) police car(s) by an 18-wheeler, as depicted on movie billboards and in TV ads for the movie at the time; to me it is unknown how this came about. Incidentally, the Jerry Reed bit about the trucker who pays the bikers back, for steling his lunch, by driving his rig over their motorcycles, is not original with the movie (which came out the year after Ford pardoned Nixon)–I heard the joke six years before. 😛 p.s. $20,000 of collateral damage; isn’t that fun? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/72 "2014-01-16T18:01:49Z")
In the film the bikers stole his dog and beat him up. It was for that Jerry West ran over the motorcycles, not for a stolen lunch. So, to answer the question… Hell, yeah, that’s a lot of fun! Ain’t it, Fred? And, of course, in [regards to the poster](http://www.impawards.com/1977/smokey_and_the_bandit.html) - who is that sitting on the truck as it’s smashing into the police cruiser? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/73 "2014-01-16T18:17:11Z")
Let me put it this way: if _that_ appeals to such a large percentage of the public, as movie viewers, then I can only conclude that the movies are none too good for their audience, and I would do well to regard most\* people\* with as much disgust as I do those movies. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/74 "2014-01-16T18:52:05Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Oscars are interesting. They’re just not very meaningful. Thank you, Ric Romero. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/75 "2014-01-16T19:03:56Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > A-hem. > > _Smokey and the Bandit_ is, by far, the greatest movie to feature a [basset hound in a named role](http://files.dogster.com/pix/grp/06/10006/10006_1187459683.jpg). Lovers of the breed watch an entirely different movie: while most follow a story about two rednecks bootlegging beer, some of us are watching the greatest road trip, _ever_, from the dog’s point of view. You have just convinced me to watch **Smokey and the Bandit**. I love me some basset hounds. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/76 "2014-01-16T19:43:42Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Thank you, Ric Romero. FARK you, too. Hundreds and hundreds of posts on the wrenchingly meaningful meaning of various Oscar choices and non-choices would seem to indicate that not everyone’s got the memo. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/77 "2014-01-16T21:00:14Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Let me put it this way: if _that_ appeals to such a large percentage of the public, as movie viewers, then I can only conclude that the movies are none too good for their audience, and I would do well to regard most\* people\* with as much disgust as I do those movies. ☹ :rolleyes: Well, aren’t _you_ just special! ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/78 "2014-01-16T21:07:48Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Thank you, Ric Romero. Tune in at 11! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/79 "2014-01-16T22:04:23Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > What you failed to mention is the destruction of (a) police car(s) by an 18-wheeler, as depicted on movie billboards and in TV ads for the movie at the time You know those weren’t real cops, right? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640/80 "2014-01-16T22:32:10Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Hundreds and hundreds of posts on the wrenchingly meaningful meaning of various Oscar choices and non-choices would seem to indicate that not everyone’s got the memo. Yes! Disagreement over the meaning and value of something is a clear indicator of no value at all! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-oscars-out-of-touch/678640.md?page=5)