The Oscars are a little bit like a 16-story building with only ten floors occupied. Looks nice, but kind of empty. But the results are interesting and culturally relevant, so I tolerate them yearly like the rest of us. OK I enjoy them.
Seth MacFarlane was funny and surprisingly natural. Ten years ago you would not have guessed that the voice of Stewie would be hosting the Oscars, but after his success with "Ted," this year, Hollywood began, I think, to take him seriously, and come to think of it, the opening to "Family Guy" would fit right alongside any Oscars telecast, and MacFarlane has always had an itch to musicalize up his episodes. So he actually fit right in.
Hollywood can't ever help itself when it comes to politics, but it gets confused sometimes. Picking Jon Stewart to host: awesome. Booing Michael Moore when he railed against the Iraq War four days after it started in 2003: not cool. (The Dixie Chicks were right...)
"The Hurt Locker" winning for Best Picture? Baloney. Art consoles, it does not dig up further hurt. But "The King's Speech," and "The Artist" winning for the same award the last two years? Lovely. This year's Oscars surprised me for two reasons: one, my sister and her boyfriend Mike came to watch with me, and two, Jennifer Lawrence was too busy to come by and make it a nice foursome. Happy Oscar.
