As has been noted above, I don’t think a song wins an Oscar based solely on how the song works, musically, divorced from the context of the movie. It’s the Oscars, not the Grammys.
I didn’t see the other movies–Crash, Transamerica–so I can’t compare it to those. But “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” deserved recognition for how well it worked within the context of the movie. I think it’s a great song too, but as far as its movie context, it was *critical *to the movie. It carried a lot of weight, and it carried it well.
I DID see both CRASH and TRANSAMERICA (in addition to HUSTLE AND FLOW) and the nominated songs from both films were so insignificant as to have gone unnoticed in the course of watching. However, “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” was at the very heart of HUSTLE & FLOW. It said everything about DJay’s life and why he wanted to do and be something better.
I really liked it. I agree that the rapping wasn’t great, but the chorus was. And I haven’t even seen it in the context of the movie yet. I also liked the other two performances.
I thought Bird York’s “In the Deep” perfectly set the tone for the resolutional events happening onscreen while it was playing near the end of Crash. I certainly noticed the song, as did my wife, and two friends with whom we saw the film, and I would certainly not call it insignificant.
Having said that, I agree that “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” was the more integral to its film and deserved to win.
Well, if how a song fits into the context of a movie is what counts, then the songs sung by Dianne Reeves in “Good Night, and Good Luck,” should have at least been nominated. THe songs, particularly “Too Close for Comfort,” were brilliantly woven into the story.