Awards Show Excess

The awards show circuit is here once again. Time for eight weeks about Hollywood gushing about who will win what award, with the Academy Awards being the top prize. Time for studios pumping in hundreds of millions of dollars so that they can lobby the various associations of each awards show to give them the top prize. Time for the upper crust of Hollywood to preach on political soapboxes for three hours .

And time for Hollywood to understand that our tolerance for bullshit ended a long time ago.

The last time that I really cared about the Academy Awards was back in 2004, when "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" won 11 Academy Awards, Peter Jackson finally getting Best Director, and a ceremony largely devoid of controversy and political pandering to make the show memorable. It was the very next year that the whole scene changed for the worse - the Academy went balls deep into nominating Oscar bait movies, politics became so enamored into the show that the past two ceremonies have been nothing BUT politics, and the deal-making that went behind the Academy Awards has made it clear that the Best Picture isn't determined by votes, but by greenbacks. Package that with marketing for Emmy bait that the public doesn't give an ounce of deep-fried shit about, and one has to admire the stupidity of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences and the American Broadcasting Company as to why the ratings for the Oscars have been dropping like a stone through water.

The entertainment industry have had a horrible 2017, as the industry has been ravaged by scandal and disgrace. Harvey Weinstein, whose name was synonomous with the Academy Awards, has disappeared off the face of the earth after dozens of women detailed being sexually assaulted by him, and the extent that he used blackmail to keep everyone in line. Acclaimed actor Kevin Spacey has essentially been blackballed from the the entertainment industry as he was revealed as a pedophile, and making the asinine move to come out of the closet in response to it. While it is a good thing that these slimy fucknuggets have been rightfully pilloried, more of these slimeballs need to be raked across the coals. This is not a one time thing.

As the name Weinstein has lost it's luster, various figures have now been linked to the cloak and dagger politics that Weinstein used for over thirty years. Basically a who's who of Hollywood giants have been linked to knowing of his dirty dealings - Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, Oliver Stone, Woody Allen, George Clooney, Ben Affleck, and others have been described as knowing about these atrocities for years, turning a blind eye towards the well-being of actresses who are now forever scarred because the big names chose to remain silent. Meryl Streep, who once referred to Harvey Weinstein as God and has worked with Weinstein on several projects. tried to use whataboutism to claim that Donald Trump was worse than Harvey Weinstein, and dismissing the allegations against Weinstein - a move that likely has cost her an Oscar and looks to do more extensive damage as her career goes on.

The move for women wearing black at the Golden Globe Awards, and spreading around pins that said TIME'S UP to the attendees? The decision to have only actresses present awards at the upcoming Screen Actors Guild Awards? Those moves are about as hollow as a whiffle ball. The entertainment has gotten away with this bullshit for far too long. Roman Polanski, who raped a teenage girl and fled to Europe to escape justice, is still lionized by the entertainment industry, with supporters looking for the charges to be dropped. Woody Allen was allowed to marry, and start a family, with HIS OWN ADOPTED DAUGHTER, a move that would land a normal person in jail. As long as these behaviors are accepted and tolerated in Hollywood, these campaigns to save face mean absolutely jack shit , because the public know that these campaigns aren't being honest about their intentions.

And for the love of God, the public has had enough with the political grandstanding and the soapboxes. We know that the overwhelming majority of celebrities lean Democrat, as if it hasn't been made obvious on camera or online with social media. With that being said, the viewing public at large does not look forward to another four to five hours of more of the same bullshit they spout off the other 364 days of the year. We already saw some of the effects from last year, commenting on how much of a fucking dirtbag they believed Donald Trump to be, with the nonstop political edge being part of the reason behind the second lowest ratings in the televised history of the Academy Awards. If I am correct in my guess, then the Oscars this year could match or even surpass how dismal the performance from last year was, continuing Hollywood's descent into mediocrity.

It has become apparent to me that despite all the claims that things wll be different, the words of Hollywood ring hollow for me. You can lay odds that the surface hasn't even been scratched in terms of the dirty laundry being aired. The ratings for this year's Academy Awards will tank to levels that haven't been seen in years. The actors and actresses, some of which knew about the despicible acts Harvey Weinstein is guilty of, will spout dialogue with "MeToo" and "TIME'S UP" injected as often as possible. Unless the Best Picture is given to either "The Shape of Water" or "Dunkirk", the winner of that prize will be one that the public will not remember in five year's time.

In layman's terms, nothing but the same old shit.

So until next time, in the immortal words of Edward R. Murrow, "Good night and good luck".