BEADS, BAUBLES AND OSCAR

     It's no wonder that The Academy Awards Ceremony this past Sunday had no host. That person would have had to be a woman who was black as well as Asian. The individual would have also had to be Jewish and probably Muslim, no doubt. Sounds goofy, right?  Judging from the "mix" that the Academy was aiming for, it wouldn't have been that goofy.

      The idea of mixing genders and races is not a novel one. Black presenters, especially, were always included, not to mention films made by African- Americans about African-American subjects ( although this particular phenomenon is fairly new ever since a few years ago when people complained vigorously about black movies being neglected in the nomination process. The complaints appeared to work. MOONLIGHT was named Best Picture in 2017. Its excellent fellow nominees ( FENCES and HIDDEN FIGURES) were also both about the black community.

     This year's winner,  GREEN BOOK, is a buddy-buddy film of sorts about the relationship between two men ( one black, one white ) during the early 1960s in the South. Its fellow nominees were BLACK PANTHER and BLACKkKLANSMAN. This is not suggesting that homage to these and other films was because of pressure, although we will never know for sure. We must admit, instead, that Oscars often do follow trends and/or reflect the "temper of the times", in this case regarding race.

     Now for the other trend worth mentioning: movies focusing on women. Consider 2018's Best Picture, THE SHAPE OF WATER, by Mexican director  Guillermo del Toro. It wasn't a surprise that the film's protagonist was a female, however. The surprise was the fact that the work was an excellent piece of cinema in every way and a fantasy to boot. It's hard to imagine Academy voters liking and understanding this kind of movie. But they did. The year 2018 also included  other noted Best Picture nominees with female protagonists, including  LADY BIRD, THE POST and BILL BOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI. This year's Best Picture nominees had their share of women as well.

     The 2019 Oscar broadcast represented no trend, as far as this critic was concerned  Not only did it  break tradition by having no host , but it was not a "better show than most of its recent predecessors," noted by New York Times film critic, A. O. Scott. In fact, it was a worse show. First, the stage design was disconcerting, "busy,"  and overdone. ( Mr. Scott called it "weird.") The fashions worn by the presenters and nominees were equally odd; most dresses were also overdone, filled with beads and sequins so bright that TV viewers needed to wear sunglasses. Some females wore bulky dresses which looked like they came from a costume drama and  were so awkward that the women had trouble walking down the aisle. It looked like the fashions were somehow coordinated on purpose. The result didn't work.

      There were more subtle examples of not following trends. One concerned the usually effective TV directing by Glenn Weiss ( no relation ) which called attention to itself on some occasions, like the camera  movement when Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper sang a nominated song from A STAR IS BORN. It was plain uncomfortable to watch.

      There were other instances where trends were not followed and were also not better for it. The title cards for nominees that appeared at the bottom of the screen were not as readable as they usually are, but probably few people noticed.

     Then again, there were a lot of elements that viewers did notice. What a shame.