The Oscars

I watched the Oscars last night. I have to say that I was much more aware of the “politics” of films that was going on. Milk won for best actor. Which was in support of gay rights. Penelope Cruz won in Vicky Cristina Barcelona which supported the latin American culture. And Slumdog Millionaire won 8 total awards, including best picture. I’m disappointed. There were so many good movies available to choose from and Slumdog Millionaire has to win 8 of them. Is that really fair? I don’t think so. I thought for sure that Doubt would for sure win at least one, just to give it some recognition. I loved that movie. It was so well done and left you thinking as you left the theater. I expected it would at least get something, but no. I didn’t expect Meryl Streep to win because she’s been nominated 15 times before this but maybe one of the two best supporting actress nominated. Something.

It turns out to be just as my film professor said. People win for things that they shouldn’t necessarily win and then in future years they’ll award the person who should have won in the past for a role or job that they didn’t do as well in. True, I’ve never seen Slumdog Millionaire and I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt for best picture, I don’t think it should have taken so many of the Oscars. It was getting to the point that I could answer with that movie and have it be right. I thought it was kind of boring after awhile. The Oscars should be about recognize as much talent as possible. For one movie to win so many awards, its discouraging to all of the other wonderfully talented people who didn't win. Some movies (like Doubt) didn't get any recognition at all with awards. Others, which I haven't even heard of, still made it to the stage. I don't think I will pay any attention to the Oscars in the future. What's the point? I'm still going to like the movies I like and nobody, not even the academy, can change that. So why waste my time? I'd rather watch another movie.

After the Oscars, Amanda and I got into a discussion of gay marriage. It was really interesting. So interesting, in fact, that Ashley came out to join us, too. She is very conservative and doesn’t support gay marriage. I also don’t support gay marriage but I do support civil unions. I’m all fired up about Catholic issues because I went to a Catholic women’s conference over the weekend. Nana bought me a copy of The Catechism of the Catholic Church which I’ve wanted for some time. I’ve been leafing through it all weekend, finding out all sorts of interesting things. For example, the Catholic church doesn’t admit to knowing if homosexuals are born that way or not but does say that the sin is not in who they are but in what they do. If the have intimate relations with a person of the same sex, that is a sin because it is pre-marital sex and goes against the purpose of sex as created by God.

It was a fairly interesting discussion that touched on issues of health care, sin, baptism, communion, and capital punishment. I don’t think I can put all of it down here so I won’t even try. Suffice to say that Ashley was surprised that I, as a Catholic, was more liberal in my views, than Amanda, who is Lutheran.

Funny story from yesterday: Lori and I went to Target to get some odds and ends. I wanted a watch, a clock, and new handtowels for my bathroom. We get home with our stuff and I take the watch out and set it and put it on, only to look down and see that it isn’t working. I shake it a little bit and it starts again. I take the clock out of the package, put some batteries in it, see the second hand start ticking, set it, and walk away. I come back two hours later and the clock is still on the time I set it at (2:34)! I look down at my watch and it had stopped working at 3:58! I was ready to scream. God did not want me to have time, I was thinking. I reset the watch and it starts working again. The second hand is still ticking on the clock. But not keeping time. I look down at my watch and it has stopped! Again! Finally, at 5:20 I’ve had enough and I take them both back to Target and get new ones. Now I’m afraid they’re going to stop working again. I keep looking at them then looking at the computer to make sure they’re still on time.

Lori and I watched Casablanca yesterday afternoon. I watched a thing one time about the 100 greatest romance movies of all time and Casablanca was number one. Gone with the Wind was number four. I have seen Casablanca several times now and I'm still waiting to feel like its the most romantic movie ever. I just can't agree. Intellectually, I know it is, but it doesn't pull at my heartstrings like so many other romance movies. I like the movie, don't get me wrong, but I don't think it deserves to be the number one most romantic movie ever. Its just not romantic enough for me to give it that accolade. (It won best picture in its year. Yet more proof that the Oscars are not right.)

Books: I just finished a Barbara Cartland novel, An Adventure of Love. It’s probably one of my least favorite of her books. It was so much more predictable than the other ones I’ve read so far. Here’s the storyline in a nutshell: Boy and girl meet but don’t know who they are. Girl is forced to marry old guy who turns out to be the father of the boy she loves. She’s assaulted by old guy and tries to kill herself. Boy rescues her at the last minute and they get married. Old guy and his heir get killed and now boy and girl are king and queen. I kept hoping that things would not turn out the way I knew they were going to. I should have known better. The reason this storyline is so common is because it was invented by the very person I’m reading. Nobody knows romance storylines like Barbara Cartland so I shouldn’t be surprised that she has some “cliché” ones. They probably weren’t cliché when she wrote them. Still, I like other of her stories better. This one was pretty much boring. Maybe I just shouldn’t read so many of them so close together. If I put more books between them, then I won’t be as bored by them. I think I will.