But why is the fun gone?

On the early hours of Monday morning (GMT) I continued the tradition I’ve had for many years now, of staying up late to watch the world’s most beautiful (both physically and financially) people turn out once again for their annual collective bat patting session, The Oscars.
Whilst watching the 84th annual Academy awards, as the charismatic, yet robotic voice of the ABC network spokesman, repeatedly drilled into me, I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to the wonder and awe the awards once held in my estimation.

Sure enough the usual pleasantries were observed, the stars turned out in their masses, fashion designers wept, or glared with furious jealousy as Hollywood’s biggest socialites announced WHO they were wearing for this year’s festivities. The legendary red carpet paved the way for the old regulars and young upstarts of the film industry to make their way in, the flash of photography and the desperate pleas from equally desperate reporters, created the familiar surroundings for Hollywood’s big night.

Unfortunately that easy sense of familiarity has turned into a foul smelling staleness, as the biggest night in Hollywood’s calendar, continues to suffer from a growing malaise.
From looking at the event’s organisation this year, one can deduce that those who organise the glamorous evening, are all to aware of its problems and they are running out of ideas for how to revitalise an event that should need no assistance at all.

When the show began, we were treated to an introduction from the mellifluous voice of ‘God’ himself, Morgan Freeman. Whilst I could personally listen to Freeman recite the yellow pages (and long for him to do a special edition of BBC’s final score) as well as being privately relieved to hear the genuine article, (as so to blot out any remnants of More Than Freeman’s painful memory from my head), it all felt too forced.
Morgan Freeman’s reputation as one of the finest actors in history, is richly deserved, however, his introduction, felt like a desperate bid for credibility and gravitas from the show’s organisers and created a disjointed beginning to the evening.
9 times host Billy Crystal’s arrival did not help matters, revealing organisers sense of panic when Eddie Murphy (their first choice for host) turned them down after initially accepting the role. Don’t get me wrong; Crystal is as safe a pair of hands as any award show could possibly hope for. In fact he’s practically written the handbook on how to host the Academy awards, for all of those unlucky enough to have to follow him.

{{quote that easy sense of familiarity has turned into a foul smelling staleness, as the biggest night in Hollywood’s calendar, continues to suffer from a growing malaise.}}

However, having hosted the show a previous eight times, surely the organisers knew he’d be able to do nothing to prevent an increasing staleness to the awards, no matter how many ‘hip’ current jokes his writers created for him.
By choosing to let Crystal host the show a 9th time, the academy showed a real lack of ambition in not hiring someone with far more edge and intrigue to them. Despite the best efforts of the show’s writers, many of Crystal’s jokes mustered nervous (if any) laughter at all from the audience of Hollywood elite and if not so experienced a host, painful silences would’ve plagued the show throughout.
And although many will argue that Crystal’s performance as host, was a vast improvement on Franco’s last year, this is hardly high praise, considering Franco presented the entire show as if still in character for Pineapple Express.

Another aspect of the show that failed to prevent the feeling of predictability that has plagued the show in recent years, was the set design and continual video montages paying tribute to film’s history. Due to such an obvious theme the whole show seemed set up to reward the films that referenced an era, when film was greeted with bewilderment and fascination. Thus when Hugo and The Artist subsequently ‘cleaned up’, with Scorcese’s film taking most of the technical categories and The Artist claiming the biggest categories of the night ; the audience seemed simply to be relieved that another year of predictability and snubs was once again over.
When the night did experience moments of liveliness and excitement, they came not from Crystal and his largely family friendly material, but from the charm and wit of those who presented and accepted awards.

Chris Rock who appeared for no more than 2 minutes, to present the award for best animation, garnered bigger laughs for his jokes than any of Crystal’s entire set. Similarly Will Ferell and Zach Galifanakis who presented the award for best original score, dressed in all white tuxedos and equipped with symbols, generated huge hilarity with their simply yet effective slapstick routine. A routine that was at its best when both actors reached a temporary crescendo, barely a foot in front of Hollywood royalty, (and hope to African orphans everywhere) ‘Brangelina’.

Disregarding the entertainment aspect of the show, it was left to ‘The Descendants’ to have the unfortunate fate of being snubbed, in nearly all of the categories Alexander Payne’s fantastic film found itself nominated for. Elsewhere Meryl Streep picked up the award for Best Actress, yet whilst it did nothing to prevent the sense of routine to the show, her genuine sense of shock at her victory, was a welcome distraction.
However, considering what she was winning the award for, one doesn’t have to think to hard to imagine she may have been putting on, yet another fantastic performance.

After the Artist completed its victory lap of all of this season’s award shows, picking up the biggest gong of the night for ‘Best Picture’, the show came to a close, not with a rousing and worthy finale however, but with a feeble whimper of insignificance and boredom.