The Oscars Reloaded

What a strange Oscars night it was, too. I didn’t make it through the same thing, which I may have to complain about later, but I got to see what I think was the strangest Oscar moment ever. No, I’m not talking about Ben Stiller’s funny but drawn out “green screen.” No, I’m not talking about the running theme of go to the movies—it’s better on the big screen! I’m talking, of course, about the Three 6 Mafia winning the Oscar. Sure, Eminem won it a few years ago for “Lose Yourself,” but he didn’t show up to perform it or to accept the award. Eminem’s a bit different, anyway. It’s like Ludicris introducing Three 6 Mafia. They both clean up nicely, and, heck, they can both almost act, graduates obviously from the David-Duchovny-school of non-acting.
The whole music award was insane, anyway. First, there’s Dolly Parton with an uninspired song, and she’s the only person on stage! Then comes “In the Deep” from "Crash," and it’s one of the most cluttered stage performances I have ever seen. I guess the song is so boring they had to give the audience something to look at. It’s a good song, sure, but the focus was on the background, not on the singer or the song. Then came Three 6 Mafia and they had a similar sort of “from the movie” montage during their performance. And I couldn’t understand a word of it, except for the amazingly catchy chorus, which I have been singing ever since. Yeah, it’s a good rap song. Yeah, the hook is good. Yeah, it probably fits well into the movie.
But it’s definitely a departure from what generally wins Oscars.
Don’t get me wrong. While I’m not the biggest fan of rap music, I do like some of it. Some of my best friends are rappers—no, wait, that’s my excuse for something else. Yes, I do feel like a character from the movie “Crash” right now. Anyway, it was weird to see the performance and definitely weird to watch the acceptance, which, as Jon Stewart said, was the most inspired acceptance he had ever seen. Man, was it ever.

I plan on continuing this, by the way. Next time, expect to hear about the stagy-ness of the Oscars.