Every year I watch the Oscars and every year I get annoyed and frustrated. This year was definitely no different. It has always bothered me that the Oscars deliberately snob comedy and horror films. There are amazing comedies and horror films that have come out in the past year and they didn’t even get a nod. Oh, they did get a “nod,” but we will get to that in a moment.
My first annoyance was the award for makeup. I think that the art of specialeffect makeup is a great tool, and even though we are in a digital age, it is still used in many films. But dressing people in period pieces for a period film does not constitute an award for makeup. It is funny to me that the only actual makeup job that was nominated was for “Star Trek” and “Il Divo,” and Star Trek actually took some talent to design and execute their makeup job.
Luckily Star Trek won, because they were the best in the category. But my issue with this is that think about a horror film, think about the special effects and makeup that you see in a horror film. Even in an awful horror flick, you still see some pretty rad makeup. I think that this category would be a perfect place to acknowledge that there are good horror films out there, that at least deserve some recognition.
My second annoyance is the “nod” the Academy gave to horror. “Jaws,” “Twilight,” “Edward Scissorhands,” and “Beetlejuice” are not horror films. I almost lost my mind when I saw a brief clip of “Twilight” in their collage, really? My feelings about “Twilight” aside, I think that it is safe to say that it does not belong in the realm of horror, with the greats like “Nightmare on Elm Street,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Friday the 13th.”
And finally my third annoyance is the acknowledgement of the people who have passed this year. So the Academy recognized Michael Jackson, but what about Bea Arthur, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon? Now I can understand that Bea and Ed were better known for their TV careers, but Farrah was known for her screen and TV career. They thought enough to remember Michael Jackson and his role in “The Wiz,” but not Farrah.
It’s a real bummer that the Academy bypasses certain genres, and decides not acknowledge certain people. I think that this will be the last year that I watch the Academy Awards until their ceremonies aren’t so one-sided.
Amanda can be reached at teemery@umflint.edu.
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