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March 8, 2010

Oscars shed light on how shallow Americans really are

By Danielle Pelkey The North Jefferson News

COMMENTARY — Have you ever sat down and really watched the Oscars?

As a child, I remember being excited about the show (even though I didn’t really know what it was) because it had great commercials.

As an adult, I still got excited about their commercials this year; they were funny and classy. Then I remembered how boring the Oscars really were. It’s really just a huge group of people who think too much about themselves.

Actually, it’s just a huge group of people we think too much about. The obsession to be famous is all over our culture.

It seems we put an unrealistic expectation on those who have acquired fame. Some famous people have done very little for their fame.

Take any reality TV star. They just act like their obnoxious selves and we love it. We can’t get enough of it. Their ratings go through the roof and we are content to sit back and help.

I must admit, I too, have been taken in by the vortex of Big Brother, The Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars and Survivor. These are very popular shows that create stars in our eyes. And by stars, I mean movie stars.

Most celebrities at the Oscars got there because they are really that good. Take Sandra Bullock for instance. She won Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in “The Blind Side.” Bullock is one of the most talented actresses on stage today, so I can see how it would be exciting to watch an awards show that gives credit where credit is due.

But the Oscars gives awards to shows that regular people have never heard of. Have you heard of the movies “The Young Victoria,” “The Cove,” “Coco Before Chanel,” “District 9” or “The Last Station.” Maybe I am so into kiddie movies that I don’t get to see good adult movies, but I had never heard of any of these. And this is a short list of the movies that I had never heard of.

They have awards for makeup, set design, producers, sound effects, supporting roles and leading roles. But all of these awards mean very little when you see what the press is most concerned with. Most media outlets listed the top three awards and then went on to describe the wardrobe of the evening in much more details than the awards were given.

Is it just me or does it really say a lot about our society when we are more concerned with what the actress from “Precious” wore than if she won any awards for her acting ability?

I guess Oscar night is a time to reflect on the shallowness of our nation and to decide what type of dress I would wear if I were ever invited to go which, by the way, would be nothing like the bubble wrap that Jennifer Lopez chose to go with this year.

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