Dear fellow misfits, welcome to the awards season! For as long as I can remember it’s the leading up to it and the awards ceremonies itself that was my favorite time of the year. It is my Super bowl, Christmas and all rolled into one.
Growing up I would spend the whole night watching The Oscars and mostly frustrated because I didn’t get to see all the movies that were nominated and even though I did understand the language I didn’t get the references. So I learned to enjoy the red carpet and fashion until it finally became possible to see all the nominated movies before the actual ceremony. Fashion always remained the big part of it, but to quote Brandon Flowers: “This church of mine may not be recognized by steeple, but that doesn’t mean that I will walk without a God.” My true religion has always been movies and my temple was movie theater. I considered TV to be my nanny, escape and occasional teacher , movie theater was that little extra. Once you’re in the movies , reality and all it’s madness can’t reach you. Even if the movie is bad it still beats reality. It wasn’t until I was in high school did my neck of the woods get to see all the nominated movies before the Oscars ( at the time it was my Christmas because it was the only awards show I could watch). A week before they’d play all the movies in one of the three movie theaters we had and then back to the regular program ( being behind US showing for a couple of months). I’d miss school to see some of them and never went to school ( if it was the morning shift), college or work Monday after the Oscars, because of the nine hour time difference . At the time it was simply normal, but in the hindsight, my mom was very understanding of my not so usual or normal interest in something I was told I could never possibly be the part of. Time will tell about that one, but right now I’m grateful for loose reigns one special day of the year.
It wasn’t until I came to US and was able not only to see the movies but also all the other award ceremonies did I truly appreciate the whole experience. Also, no need for sleepless night because of the time difference. While I was mostly misunderstood growing up ( with some honorable exceptions), coming to NY in particular, I found myself surrounded by likeminded people who would join me on the journey of the movies as well as awards. Most of these people where not interested into making it in the show business. Some like the fashion, some liked the movies, some liked both and some were just good friends eating popcorn and commenting with me on looks, speeches and the shows itself. Things have changed after Covid. While before you could just go to movies and see all the nominated movies, now they’re all over the place. So if you don’t have a certain streaming program you have to find someone who does in order to watch it. Then there was the infamous slap that was heard around the world. Something I couldn’t have ever imagined happening at any award show, let alone The Academy Awards. Feeling really old as I write this, but if you were fan of it before you notice the lack of glamour, drop in the ratings because it is harder to watch all the nominees despite such advance technology and people’s attention span being shorter than ever and just not being able to sit through the ceremony. It is not all doom and glum. I’m glad there are more diverse roles available and therefore more new faces up for awards. Thought I think that’s long overdue, there is so much political correctness in it as well that any faux pas is resulting in a person being cancelled immediately.
With all the positive and negative aspects that came along in the last couple of years I am still very much enjoying the awards season and still have a few nominated movies to see. So to the movie theater I go and if you’re enjoying the movies, fashion and celebrations of the movies sit back and enjoy the season.
*** ‘That’s Entertainment’ by John Williams and Boston Pops Orchestra