# How did "Dances with Wolves" go from being an Oscar winner to being artistically dismissed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dances-with-wolves-go-from-being-an-oscar-winner-to-being-artistically-dismissed/510051 "2009-09-14T17:17:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dances-with-wolves-go-from-being-an-oscar-winner-to-being-artistically-dismissed/510051/41 "2009-09-15T20:17:05Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **Crash** was a brilliant film and one of Oscar’s better choices. The problem is that a lot of people were arguing for **Brokeback Mountain** for political reasons and started whining when they lost. It’s really sad that they have to tear down another film in order to confirm their own self-interest. > > Other than that, I can’t see why there could be any objections to **Crash** ; it said a hell of a lot more than most movies and I even see it being taught in classes at the college level, primarily because of how well it deals with the complexities of race. As I said in the other thread, I thought **Crash** dealt with the complex issue of race in the most simplistic, sitcom-level manner possible. The hate for it had nothing to do with it beating **Brokeback Mountain** (in my case, anyway; I thought BBM was fairly overrated and dull); it was due to the fact that it massively sucked. To anyone who thinks **Goodfellas** is a standard gangster movie, it’s not. Definitely no glorification going on there; if anything, it focuses almost entirely on the negative aspects of the organization. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dances-with-wolves-go-from-being-an-oscar-winner-to-being-artistically-dismissed/510051/42 "2009-09-16T17:55:51Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > As I said in the other thread, I thought **Crash** dealt with the complex issue of race in the most simplistic, sitcom-level manner possible. The hate for it had nothing to do with it beating **Brokeback Mountain** (in my case, anyway; I thought BBM was fairly overrated and dull); it was due to the fact that it massively sucked. It came down to a message of “Can’t we all just get along?” which was trite by the late 90s. There was nothing new there, there was nothing ground breaking. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dances-with-wolves-go-from-being-an-oscar-winner-to-being-artistically-dismissed/510051/43 "2009-09-16T19:37:27Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > It came down to a message of “Can’t we all just get along?” which was trite by the late 90s. There was nothing new there, there was nothing ground breaking. Agreed. It was one of those beat-you-over-the-head-with-a-heavy-handed-message movies. ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dances-with-wolves-go-from-being-an-oscar-winner-to-being-artistically-dismissed/510051/44 "2009-09-16T20:21:15Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > It came down to a message of “Can’t we all just get along?” which was trite by the late 90s. There was nothing new there, there was nothing ground breaking. Yep that and the whole “noble Indian” motif that washes away some truths about native culture. Teh reality was something that wasn’t as pastoral and peacful. What ruined the movie for me was the fact that it was around the same year Black Robe came out. I saw Black Robe first and was captivated. It was a story of French Jesuit missionaries going up the St Lawrence to spread the word of God guided by allied Indians. The shots were beautiful but the story and character dynamic make it a sort of anti Dances with Wolves. Black Robe had no alliegence to any group. The dark side oth both cultures was given equal time. Neither belief system was shown to be superior (despite the characters deriding each other’s culture) In fact in them end we see a Catholic’s prayers answered by the grace of God and a Natives spirit god appear before them, as if both were real. The clash of cultures rang true and there is a sort of sadness that made you see that despite the differences there were common human frailties and strengths. Wonderful film if you can catch it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dances-with-wolves-go-from-being-an-oscar-winner-to-being-artistically-dismissed/510051.md?page=2)