# Fuck the Oscars **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941 "2004-03-01T17:36:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/21 "2004-03-02T17:05:38Z")
I didn’t bother to watch it either. I never do. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/22 "2004-03-02T18:16:34Z")
I read a book. But then, that’s usually what I do rather than watch TV. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/23 "2004-03-02T18:46:20Z")
Ummm **Cartooniverse** , how does what you said differ from what I did? I believe your point was the same as mine, that being it’s nice when the receipient puts a little thought into it. Sean Penn left me with the impression that he gave it no forethought whatsoever, he just went up there and said the first thing that came into his head. I believe he even mentioned that in the speech… that he didn’t write these beforehand. Did you honestly think I had a problem with him mentioning those that got him there? Huh? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? My problem was that he apparently had so little respect for the Academy and his audience that he just went up there and winged it. My problem is that 99% of the speeches were obviously given more preparation. I like his acting abilities but his historically dismissive attitude towards awards shows came through loud and clear that night. That’s cool, but still his speech sucked. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/24 "2004-03-02T18:52:52Z")
Penn said something about his kids telling him it would be pretentious to write an acceptance speech. Afterward, my friend turned to me and said, “This is why grown-ups should make the decisions.” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/25 "2004-03-02T19:59:33Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I read a book. But then, that’s usually what I do rather than watch TV. Strewth! I’d much rather read a Harlequin Romance than watch one o’ them documentary thingies on PBS . . . ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/26 "2004-03-02T20:49:03Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Strewth! I’d much rather read a Harlequin Romance than watch one o’ them documentary thingies on PBS . . . LOL. Why ask whether I watched if you don’t wanna know? After all, it _is_ what I do rather than watch TV. But I’ll leave the romances to you. I prefer my entertainment in the form of books - if you prefer TV, I don’t have a problem with it. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/27 "2004-03-02T21:02:35Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > LOL. Why ask whether I watched if you don’t wanna know? Actually, I didn’t ask—I didn’t even watch the Oscars! But—even though I am a writer—that “_all_ books are better than _all_ TV” attitude kinda plucks my nerves. Let’s face it: some books suck, and some TV is actually quite excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/28 "2004-03-03T00:05:56Z")
I was also pissed at at the “Short Film” winner…he was just annoying how he wouldn’t shut up. I’ve always thought that my speech would go like this: First I’d thank everyone quickly, then I’d say OK, now give yourselves a big hand, because you’re sucessful and famous and you’ve worked damn hard to get here!" And then I’d congratulate myself, because I just won an Oscar, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/29 "2004-03-03T01:33:16Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I knew that if I were watching when Sean Penn was announced for his gratuitous award for that emoting piece of crap in “Mystic River”, that I would end up having to buy a new TV. > > Maybe now that both he and that homely Zellweger broad have won an Oscar, they will both go away and stop annoying those of us who can’t stand either one of them. Hey! You’re speaking of the future Mrs Manduck there! The Zellweger broad, I mean, not Sean Penn. Anyway, I was too busy reading to the blind and knitting coats for homeless kittens to watch the Oscars. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/30 "2004-03-03T02:08:45Z")
I watched. I have a friend who throws a party for the Oscars every year, and it’s kinda fun, plus he’s a GREAT cook so I get well fed. Most of the fun is in making fun of the actors who seem to be under the delusion that people care what they think. Well, that and getting all puffed up with righteous indignation that ROTK, a film with astonishing technical achievements and not one single original idea, won Best Adapted Screenplay over _American Splendor_ and _City of God_. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/31 "2004-03-03T02:46:22Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Actually, I didn’t ask—I didn’t even watch the Oscars! But—even though I am a writer—that “_all_ books are better than _all_ TV” attitude kinda plucks my nerves. Let’s face it: some books suck, and some TV is actually quite excellent. Ah well then, I apologize to all who inferred criticism. None was implied. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/32 "2004-03-03T03:22:26Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Ah well then, I apologize to all who inferred criticism. None was implied. 🙂 Oh, darling, we can’t possibly get in a tiff in a “fuck the Oscars” thread! ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/33 "2004-03-03T05:36:34Z")
Actually, just for me, I appreciated Sean Penn’s speech. Usually, some of those people (Alec Baldwin springs to mind) are _so_ convinced they’ll win, they probably wrote out what they’d say long before even having taken a particular part. They appear to believe they’re that good it’s a shoo-in. So, I took him at face value that he wasn’t expecting to win and therefore refused to prepare in advance (on top of the pretentious, arrogant presumption of it all) so that he would simply deal with things at face value. That’s how I took it anyway. Of course, I’m a fan of his and I prefer spur-of-the-moment over canned rehearsal any day. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2004, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/34 "2004-03-03T07:18:57Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > If you are going to watch, then you are by default buying into the idea that this is a show of excellent works, judged by the peers of the nominees. Otherwise, uh…why watch? Well, there’s always the mocking… ---
**Author:** ![Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raymond_luxury_yacht/32/4099_2.png) [@Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raymond_Luxury_Yacht)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/35 "2004-03-03T08:22:39Z")
God how I hate the Oscars. Why do I rubberneck at this train wreck? It’s funny that, in a thread with this title, Sean Penn’s speech, which in part derided the method of ranking performances, has received little suport here. I like that he listened to his kids and thanked them. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/36 "2004-03-03T08:57:38Z")
It really is the most wonderful piece of months long self-publicity. And sometimes it even feels like a genuine award ceremony, rather than an industry-wide cash cow – but then again, it also feels like the end-of-line January sale; lets give it all one more push before the next product comes in. Anyway, kudos to the biz for getting some folks to ‘emotionally invest’ in their products. For what it’s worth, If I had a teevee, I’d have watched it. Which is why I don’t. And I didn’t read a book, either. But I did see the utterly appalling Renee Zellweger in the even utterly-er appalling ‘Cold Mountain’; if the award she won wasn’t for most over-the-top, look-at-me-and-give-me-an-Oscar, cliched ridden, hands on hips, ‘I ain’t messin’, Tom-Boy of the Year, she wuz robbed. Haven’t seen a more obvious, Oscar-aspirational performance since . . . Nicole Kit-off in the same film. Bollocks. ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/37 "2004-03-03T11:06:30Z")
See, thats what pisses me off about the Oscars. Every year, a Miramax film starring Kidman and the usual bunch of ‘actooors’, done solely for the purpose of getting Oscars. Why not act instead of giving an oscar winning performance. I think at least this year their bubbles been burst a fair bit. it’s getting too obvious. But at least Judi Fucking Dench wasn’t up for anything this year. most overrated actress EVER. with Kidman a close second. and Renee Schwarzenegger looks like she suffers from air pressure. -squint- ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/38 "2004-03-03T11:34:34Z")
Has anyone ever won an Oscar and just said “cheers” and went back to their seat again? That would be cool. And yeah I agree Judi Dench is a dumbass. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/39 "2004-03-03T13:14:32Z")
Let’s can it on the Judi Dench remarks, thank you. As for a short and sweet acceptance speech, hats off to Jane Wyman[can’t remember if she was post- or pre- Reagan. She won the Best Actress award for “Johnny Belinda,” wherein she played a young woman who was deaf, and also could not speak. Her words after clutching Oscar were, “They gave me an award for keeping my mouth shut, I think I’ll do it again.” ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941/40 "2004-03-03T13:25:51Z")
> [@hopefool](#): > > Usually, some of those people (Alec Baldwin springs to mind) are _so_ convinced they’ll win. Do you think? I can’t believe Baldwin thought his blackhearted casino owner would trump Tim Robbins as a victim of abuse. _Nothing_ trumps a victim of abuse. Even a marginally well-acted one, I would think. If Baldwin ever deserved an acting nod, it was for _Glengarry Glenross._ Calling poor old Alan Arkin a c–ksucker and still managing to look cool. Now that’s the stuff! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-the-oscars/231941.md?page=3)