Oscar Nominations = Our Culture?
Taylor Gage
Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Arts
Another year, another group of films. Most will never know the five who were nominated to receive the Oscar for best supporting actress in 2007. On a lot of levels, the Oscars are meaningless: most of the movies do not go down in history as the films that will shape future generations.
However, the films nominated for awards, which will be presented in a ceremony on Feb. 24 (if the Writer's Guild agrees not to picket the red carpet - see last week's column), reveal a lot about state of our culture today.
The Academy nominated a variety of films this year: two period pieces, a comedy, a political drama, and a crime drama. "Atonement" and "There Will Be Blood" explore themes of forgiveness and greed in a world facing dramatic change via the agents of war and oil.
"Michael Clayton" stars George Clooney in yet another tale of corruption, espousing ideas present in his other recent films "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Syriana." And finally, while No Country for Old Men deals with the ever present of drug trafficking on the United States-Mexican border, the comedy Juno explores a young teen's pregnancy and her choice to refuse abortion.
To a less or greater degree, these films reflect our national consciousness that our world is threatened by unceasing change and constant instability. While the way Hollywood reacts to or analyzes these issues may differ from the average America, they provide a good guide to America's preoccupations and concerns about itself.
Each year, it is also interesting to note which films the Academy declines to nominate. Absent from the list are numerous war commentaries, gangster films and musicals.
None of the half dozen or so films on the war in Iraq were nominated, including Tom Cruise's "Lions for Lambs" and Reese Witherspoon's "Rendition." Ridley Scott's critically-acclaimed "American Gangster," starring Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington, was shunned by the Academy, though films like "The Departed" have been shown special favor in recent years. The Academy also failed to nominate Golden Globe winner "Sweeney Todd," Tim Burton's very bloody, gothic musical.
Perhaps 2008 is just like any other year. It is unlikely that audiences will watch "Atonement" or "There Will Be Blood" in a couple decades. Nonetheless, these films may mark an important shift away from America's concerns about Iraq towards issues of larger consequence: questions of a metaphysical sort which should always be a part of any American's preoccupations.
However, the films nominated for awards, which will be presented in a ceremony on Feb. 24 (if the Writer's Guild agrees not to picket the red carpet - see last week's column), reveal a lot about state of our culture today.
The Academy nominated a variety of films this year: two period pieces, a comedy, a political drama, and a crime drama. "Atonement" and "There Will Be Blood" explore themes of forgiveness and greed in a world facing dramatic change via the agents of war and oil.
"Michael Clayton" stars George Clooney in yet another tale of corruption, espousing ideas present in his other recent films "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Syriana." And finally, while No Country for Old Men deals with the ever present of drug trafficking on the United States-Mexican border, the comedy Juno explores a young teen's pregnancy and her choice to refuse abortion.
To a less or greater degree, these films reflect our national consciousness that our world is threatened by unceasing change and constant instability. While the way Hollywood reacts to or analyzes these issues may differ from the average America, they provide a good guide to America's preoccupations and concerns about itself.
Each year, it is also interesting to note which films the Academy declines to nominate. Absent from the list are numerous war commentaries, gangster films and musicals.
None of the half dozen or so films on the war in Iraq were nominated, including Tom Cruise's "Lions for Lambs" and Reese Witherspoon's "Rendition." Ridley Scott's critically-acclaimed "American Gangster," starring Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington, was shunned by the Academy, though films like "The Departed" have been shown special favor in recent years. The Academy also failed to nominate Golden Globe winner "Sweeney Todd," Tim Burton's very bloody, gothic musical.
Perhaps 2008 is just like any other year. It is unlikely that audiences will watch "Atonement" or "There Will Be Blood" in a couple decades. Nonetheless, these films may mark an important shift away from America's concerns about Iraq towards issues of larger consequence: questions of a metaphysical sort which should always be a part of any American's preoccupations.
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