Sunday, February 25, 2007
Oscar Blogging and Hegemony
I'm watching the Oscars-- I don't really know why, I don't really like the show, its far too much Hollywood self congratulations (you're great, no, you're great, heck, we're all great!) and yet I'm watching when I should be reviewing Ikenberry and Ruggie for tomorrow's class. (I'll get to that at some point, probably between Best song and best director in a supporting role).
What really made me think, though, was when they did best Foreign Language film (won by some German film I'd never heard of. The one I did see, Volver, didn't win). The Academy gives out Best Picture, for The Best Movie of The Year. A few foreign films have been nominated but never won. This year could be interesting, as Letters from Iwo Jima could win best picture and is a foreign language, though American produced film.
Yet what other country's national film awards offer an award for Best American film?
--Ooooh, lets take a brief break to see if Al Gore wins an Oscar!!!
And yes, he did. How about that. George Bush may have won the election but I doubt he'll ever get an Oscar. Gore's a bona fide celebrity now.
Anyway, as I was saying / typing...
What other country would even bother to have a Best American Film? Could you see the French Film Awards giving an award to the Best American film?
But The Academy can certainly judge the best picture of the year, not just here, but from around the world. And the world's celebrities all come to Hollywood for the Oscars. These are the awards to get. This is the Academy to please.
If you want to think about American Hegemony and its influence in shaping the current world in which we live, and if you want to understand how much bigger American Hegemony is than the mere US Government, perhaps The Academy might be an interesting place to start.
They're doing a tribute to an Italian movie score guy. He did the music for The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I love that. And he's accepting the award in Italian, with Eastwood semi-translating. Fantastic.
What really made me think, though, was when they did best Foreign Language film (won by some German film I'd never heard of. The one I did see, Volver, didn't win). The Academy gives out Best Picture, for The Best Movie of The Year. A few foreign films have been nominated but never won. This year could be interesting, as Letters from Iwo Jima could win best picture and is a foreign language, though American produced film.
Yet what other country's national film awards offer an award for Best American film?
--Ooooh, lets take a brief break to see if Al Gore wins an Oscar!!!
And yes, he did. How about that. George Bush may have won the election but I doubt he'll ever get an Oscar. Gore's a bona fide celebrity now.
Anyway, as I was saying / typing...
What other country would even bother to have a Best American Film? Could you see the French Film Awards giving an award to the Best American film?
But The Academy can certainly judge the best picture of the year, not just here, but from around the world. And the world's celebrities all come to Hollywood for the Oscars. These are the awards to get. This is the Academy to please.
If you want to think about American Hegemony and its influence in shaping the current world in which we live, and if you want to understand how much bigger American Hegemony is than the mere US Government, perhaps The Academy might be an interesting place to start.
They're doing a tribute to an Italian movie score guy. He did the music for The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I love that. And he's accepting the award in Italian, with Eastwood semi-translating. Fantastic.
Labels: Academy Awards, hegemony
