The Oscars - Not exactly all grassroots yet
March 6th, 2006 | by Klaus Holzapfel |
The 2006 Oscars were a nice departure from the routine we have been used to for many years: A few movies battling for the most number of wins like heavyweight fighters and everything else remaining in their shadow.
This year, the six most important awards went to six different non-blockbuster-movies.
Here are my rather uncollected thoughts:
1. Movie making is still a non-democratic process. Producers decide on a project and then turn in into a movie (Ok: It is not always that simple). It is very much unlike some reality TV shows where the audience decides on the outcome directly by voting on the phone.
Imagine the viewers in a movie theatre could send an SMS message wit their preferred outcome to the operator of the projector…
No, we are still subjected to what they want us to see.
2. In the absence of blockbusters the market is getting more segmented. There are fewer people in your direct environment that you can share your thoughts on a movie with. You might have to turn to a chat room to engage in a discussion.
3. Rupert Murdoch was smart enough to buy mySpace last year already. He would have paid over a billion this year. I still don’t see how mySpace and Fox fit together though. To me that’s like the IRS running eBay or the FBI running Google (maybe the do so already 
?
4. The winners’ movies didn’t cost a whole lot to make. They also haven’t performed sensationally yet, but after the Oscars word of mouth will kick in and these movies will be successful in the long run (additional shows in theaters, DVD rentals etc…). So they cash in a bit later, but if a much smaller advertising budget.
5. The makers of the movies listened to the public and their themes reflect what is in the publics’ mind. The movies are trend followers rather then trend setters. People wouldn’t exactly think of gay cowboys as the number one topic in the U.S. but the movie shows that there are struggling minorities outside the major metropolitan areas and that message applies to the whole country.
6. L.A. Crash is a movie we should talk about some more…maybe before the next riots in Los Angeles break out.
7. Some critics might say that only “liberal” movies can find an audience in Hollywood. I’ve been thinking what would happen if someone would turn one of the conservatives’ favorite topics into a movie. But then, Mel Gibson has already proven that you can bypass Hollywood altogether and succeed in your own way (”Passion of the Christ”). It’s all about turning in a quality product that the audience really wants to see.
