# Light comedies — are they evaluated unfairly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-comedies-are-they-evaluated-unfairly/403860 "2007-05-12T18:17:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-comedies-are-they-evaluated-unfairly/403860/21 "2007-05-13T09:56:04Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Case in point: [1980](http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Years/1980/top-grossing). The most tedious, pretentious, and preachy drama imaginable — _Ordinary People_ — won out over _Nine to Five_, _Stir Crazy_, _Airplane!_, and _Any Which Way You Can_. The four comedies each drew far more box office than that wretched, hand-wringing, moralistic screed. Hell, even _Blue Lagoon_ drew bigger crowds. Yeah, I know. The Oscars aren’t about popularity […stifling chuckles…]. [/QUOTE] I’m confused by your chuckles. Are you saying that the Oscars really are about popularity despite what is said? Then how do you account for the fact that unpopular movies such as Ordinary People end up winning? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-comedies-are-they-evaluated-unfairly/403860/22 "2007-05-13T12:36:20Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] Roger Ebert always (or at least used to) claimed to rate movies by how succesfful they are at achieving their objective - not “is it a great film” but “is it a great shlock horror film”, etc. I think he did a fairly good job of it, too. [/QUOTE] Yes. I love that about him. He said (paraphrased) “If you want to know what I thought about _Hellboy_, you don’t want to know how it compares to _Casablanca_, you want to know how it compares to _Raiders of the Lost Ark_”. Excellent attitude, and rare for a critic. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-comedies-are-they-evaluated-unfairly/403860/23 "2007-05-13T13:19:06Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] I’m confused by your chuckles. Are you saying that the Oscars really are about popularity despite what is said? Then how do you account for the fact that unpopular movies such as Ordinary People end up winning? -FrL- [/QUOTE] It’s a matter of popularity _within the Academy_. Like everything else, it’s infested with politics. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-comedies-are-they-evaluated-unfairly/403860/24 "2007-05-13T16:46:57Z")
Liberal writes: \> Yeah, I know. The Oscars aren’t about popularity […stifling chuckles…]. The Oscars aren’t about quality either exactly. The Oscars are determined by very definite prejudices, and they aren’t what you might think. The Oscars go to middle-brow films. The Academy voters don’t want to be seen as being too low-brow, so low-brow films don’t get nominated and don’t win, but they don’t want to be seen as being too high-brow either, so nothing too avant-garde wins or gets nominated either. They like films with political points that are reasonably well accepted among the Hollywood crowd but not political ideas that are too far out. They tend to vote for actors and actresses who are popular among fellow actors and actresses. The Oscars tend to be more prejudiced against comedies (and genre films in general) than the average critics, I think. Look at a wider selection of critics. Many of them are more favorably inclined towards comedies than you might think. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-comedies-are-they-evaluated-unfairly/403860/25 "2007-05-13T17:34:06Z")
I love a light comedy when I’m in the mood. Some are done better than others, nd I’m sure that has to do with the lower ratings, but there’s a place for them. I also love dark, brooding films. I think most people have multiple genres that they enjoy. Also, Comcast evidently has chimpanzees doing their movie stars and synopses. They’re fucking idiots. You really can’t go by their recommendations. \*Overboard \* is one of my all-time favorite movies. [Goldie Hawn] “I was a short, fat slut.”[Goldie Hawn/off] ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-comedies-are-they-evaluated-unfairly/403860/26 "2007-05-13T20:54:59Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] [Goldie Hawn] “I was a short, fat slut.”[Goldie Hawn/off] [/QUOTE] 😃 [Her mother] You don’t push the food down Shitaki’s throat. You place it on her tongue. Don’t they have dogs in Sweden? [/Her mother] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-comedies-are-they-evaluated-unfairly/403860.md?page=1)