Did you see the Academy awards last night? I mean, even Oscar seems off in these strange times. Forget that a lot of people took a pass or so they say. I personally didn't see anyone missing, but there was a palpable feeling of the King and Queen not being present. Don't ask me who the King and Queen are, but maybe it was the third Jack Black interview or the Morton Downey nomination for appearing in black face. Hemingway had an old phrase, "Praise to the Face is open Disgrace." Did you see the new way of presenting the awards? They have the last five guys or gals who won come out and present the award. The part that made you want to sink down into your chair or couch was when the actors and actresses went on a love fest of adoration for the nominee. We had to watch Meryl Streep smile for a good five minutes while praise was lavished. Or Kate Winslet who smiled graciously when the actress forgot her lines and began to sound like Sara Palin on a bad night. Who came up with that one? Well, movies are down. No one goes anymore and what better way to sing the praises then dig up the stars and have them gush to another stars face. It was a tad embarrassing for all involved. I don't know. Maybe it was the Hyundai commercials that promised you that if you lost your job they would take the car back no questions asked. I have to say I haven't' heard GM offer me that on my gas guzzler. Or the other commercials that spoke of these uncertain times. Or maybe it was the high hat routine that smacked of Ginger and Fred during the Depression. Suddenly glitz and movie stars seemed irrelevant. Even Sean Penn's call to arms against proposition thirteen seemed strangely marginalized by the times. The novelist EM. Forester once said, "art is for a man with a full belly." Maybe that's what it is now. Maybe there are just too many people who are in distress to worry about movie stars right now.
