Sunday night my wife and daughter attended a ladies only Oscar Party at the Fischers. Dress was strictly red carpet. So Mister and Master Fischer came to our house and from there we were going to go see a movie. Only there weren’t any movies any of us wanted to see. So instead we stayed home and watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail and then played Scene It just for fun. And that’s what’s wrong with Hollywood — we wanted to go spend money on their product but they didn’t have anything we wanted to buy. And just to be clear here, Mr. Fischer liked Fahrenheit 9/11.
I think the biggest problem for Hollywood is that they’ve lost sight of the fact they are another business, just like every other business. When butts aren’t in movie theater seats, the response shouldn’t be that there is something wrong with the audience, but that the movies aren’t compelling enough. Yeah, movies have more competition than ever, but I can think of few more enjoyable ways to spend a couple of hours than at a good movie. Hollywood just doesn’t make enough good movies anymore, and I think that there is a real danger for them that once you don’t go to a movie in a while (depending on the person), you stop even thinking about going to movies. It takes something like Passion of the Christ to get people back who’ve lost interest.
The Oscars have become another sign of a disfunctional Hollywood. What is the point of the Oscars? Stroking the ego of people who have their ego’s stroked every day and who are paid fantastic sums to play make believe? An excuse to have a party afterwards? No, that’s what they’ve become, but their point from a business perspective is marketing. And the marketing is two fold – the individual product in the form of the movies, directors, actors, etc. who win, who are nominated, and who show up and are seen by the audience watching at home, and the brand of Hollywood movie. From the business perspective, there isn’t a lot of difference between the Oscars and an ad for a particular movie – they are both marketing, although in different forms. So Hollywood would ideally put on a show that people wanted to watch and showed its product (and I’m including “the talent” here as part of the product) in such a way that people want to pay to go see it.
And they are failing miserably on both counts. Viewership is down both in the theaters and of the Oscars. So does Hollywood make use the Oscars (as they used to do) to remind people of the good movies that were made? Nope, they remind people of the crappy ones they stayed away from in the first place. They could have brought Bob Hope and Johnny Carson back from the dead and in their prime, and it wouldn’t have changed that goof. The show reinforces the idea that Hollywood is smug, arrogant, out of touch, and basically not interesting in making a movie you want to see. Does George Clooney’s speech make anyone who’s on the fence, let alone not a fan, want to go see a movie that he’s associated with? In a word, no.
As somebody who really likes movies, should I be worried? Yes and no. In the short term, I’m worried because I don’t think Hollywood is going to pull its head out and make product I want to see. In the long term, I’m not worried because I think between movies made in the old Hollywood mold in other English speaking countries (think Bollywood) and a new breed using new technology in the US once again there will be movies I want to see.
Mark at Kaedrin liveblogged the show, as did Andrew Olmsted in a display of their ability to do what it takes to bring you their opinion, whatever the cost is to themselves.
Libertas, as you would expect, has an in depth look at the night. I think we’re saying the same thing when I say they’ve forgotten they are a business and Libertas says they think they are entitled to an audience.
Manhatten Transfer looks at the politics of Oscar voting this year.
Busy Mom has a non-analytic take on the event.
McQ looks at the numbers and discovers in all of 5 seconds what Hollywood can’t seem to get: People want to see movies the whole family can go to.
Patrick Runkle provides a brief synopsis of everything Oscar.
Crooked Timber notes an unintended irony from the broadcast.
Eamonn Fitzgerald looks at the Best Picture winner, Crash.
