OWS Protesters Evicted while America Sleeps

I found it incredibly chilling that reporters for Democracy Now!, moving through the wreckage of the Occupy Wall Street camp early Tuesday morning, found Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” lying unceremoniously amidst the remains of protesters’ private belongings, most of which were on their way to a police ‘pickup zone’, or as city sanitation workers called it…the city dump.

In case you live under a rock, you should know by now that Occupy Wall Street was evicted last night by a horde of riot-geared NYPD.  Personal belongings were trashed, protesters and press alike were forced several blocks back, and numerous beatings were reported by eyewitnesses.  At 6:30 am, an injunction was issued against the NYPD and the city of New York, barring them from keeping protesters out of the park.  In addition to (hopefully) lawsuits for loss of private property and suppression of the press, the city of New York will be getting some serious legal ass-whooping.

But not-so-breaking news aside, let’s get right to the point of this blog.

Specifically, its title.

Why is the only thing most Americans know about the protests the fact that the protests have been broken up?

Because we don’t give a shit.

How can we? Most of us don’t have time to visit Zuccotti Park, or research the movement, or watch unbiased news coverage.  Our only impressions are the bits and pieces we glean in between taking care of the kids, working two part-time jobs, and trying to stay sane in an increasingly in-sane world.  We just don’t have time to question the system.

Personally, I don’t blame America.  Our system’s designed to misinform us, enough so that we don’t wise up and challenge it.  But hearing the recent jokes, bad information, and belittling of the movement recently has made me realize the protesters’ message is no longer being heard.  Like most humans, Americans have sunk to judging based on appearances and assumptions.

So let’s set the record straight.

The Occupy Movement is NOT goal-less.

It is NOT a bunch of hippies (though there are some).

It is NOT unclean, uncouth, and unorganized.

It is trying to make YOU, the average American, wake up and realize how little control WE the PEOPLE have over our government.

It is NOT trying to be a political party.  Or a union.  Or a big sponsored organization.  Or a PAC.

It is trying to get US to get off our lazy butts and PARTICIPATE in our democracy!  And possibly make this country a real democracy while we’re at it.

Want concrete goals? Take a look.

http://sites.google.com/site/the99percentdeclaration

It’s what they were TRYING to tell you all along.  But you were more concerned about a random dude raping a woman, or a guy with dreadlocks playing drums, or people wagging their fingers to disagree with someone.

Listen up, America.  You hate what this system gives you.  I see it every day.  You don’t want to have to work those two shitty part-time jobs, or struggle to make ends meet, or have your government and the corporations they’re in bed with steal your life savings, or be used and abused so a few people can make big bucks off you.  YOU DON’T.

But you don’t want to do anything about it, either.

Enough is enough.  Stand up and join the struggle.  If Occupy Wall Street were just a bunch of leftist-socialist-communist-hippie-free-loaders…why the hell is the 1% so damn scared of them?

Because they have the power to make the average person realize how shitty life is, get up, turn off the TV, and fight back.

I place this challenge to you, America.  You have the opportunity to build a 21st century society.  To take the next step towards a brave new world, just like you did in 1776.

The chance is yours.

Try not to fuck it up.

The whole world’s watching.

Wake Up (And Smell the Tear Gas)

 

This morning, Occupy Oakland was evicted from its location in downtown Oakland by a gang of over 500 police officers in riot gear.  Tear gas, flash bang grenades, rubber bullets, and bean bag guns were used to ‘disperse’ crowds.  Of course, the media jumps all over it.  What better way to discredit protesters than show them as a crowd of unruly young people throwing paintballs and water bottles at police?

Of course, watching on-the-ground footage on Youtube paints a different picture.  Police clearly used excessive force.  There’s not much question of that.  Granted, there were people throwing things, and the Occupy Oakland headquarters was having a few issues with security, cleanliness, etc.  But still.

As the Occupy movements draw to over a month, it’s becoming clear that our corrupt government is getting exceedingly scared of their ability to get the message across.  Like the old adage goes, first they ignore you, then they insult you, then they fight you.  We’re reaching stage 3 right now.  Which is good.  It means it’s working.

And it’s not going to stop here.  The Civil Rights marches faced hundreds of obstacles, arrests, police dogs, firehoses.  And they succeeded.  Only through solidarity will these protests have any hope of getting more national attention.

But to do that, YOU need to act.

Get up off your butt and do something.  Don’t complain you don’t have time.  Instead of watching videos on YouTube or mindless reality TV, get involved.  Send letters to Congress.  Use Occupy the BoardRoom (www.occupytheboardroom.com) to send letters to corporate CEOs.  Go protest for a while.  Put a bumper sticker on your car.  Wear an “I Am the 99%” button.  Post a blog like this one.  Share news of what’s really going on at the OWS protests.  Let your friends and family know what the movement is REALLY about.

DO SOMETHING.

Too many people have no idea what these movements are about.  They’re uninformed, ignorant, and therefore easily swayed by those in control, whose only desire is to crush these movements before they can gain firm ground.

DON’T LET THEM.

EDUCATE.  STAY INFORMED.  

WAKE UP.

P.S. If you’re looking for an “I Am the 99%” button, I have them available for download.  They’re free to print out, make into real buttons, post on your Facebook page, etc.

You can download here.

http://kbfitzgerald.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/99.png

 

 

 

 

How Realistic is a Constitutional Amendment?

 

We did it before.  Can we do it again?

Clearly the only way we’re going to get any sort of real power back in the hands of the people is through the use of a Constitutional amendment, ratified by all 50 states.  Given that Congress and our government have been bought out by the ruling class, this option is really our only one remaining.  We can’t expect politicians to suddenly eliminate lobbyists overnight or change their corrupt methodology at a whim.  They won’t.  We have to force them to.

But how realistic is a Constitutional amendment these days? Given that it only took seven days to ratify the 26th amendment, this should be pretty easy, right?

Unfortunately, we need a cohesive amendment to propose.  We don’t have one we can all agree on just yet.

So what should be included in the 28th amendment?

Warren Buffett had an idea - http://www.nashvillescene.com/pitw/archives/2011/07/11/warren-buffett-want-focus-on-the-budget-deficit-create-term-limits

Anyone else?

 

 

Support the Movement!

As National Move-Your-Money-Out-Of-Corrupt-Banks day approaches, show some solidarity with your fellow working-class Americans by posting this button ^^^^^^^^ to your social networking profile, blog it, spread it around, and get people off their butts and into the streets.  Change doesn’t come unless you fight for it.  So come on, average joe.  Join the movement.  It’s not just hippies and leftist weirdos.  It’s ALL of us.

P.S.  The button’s in easily downloadable PNG format.  You should have no problems sharing it.  The more sharing, the better.  We need to get better media and social representation.  Half the people I know don’t have a clue what the protests are about, nor do they think they can do anything about it! Prove them wrong!

Capitalism: We Can’t Live With or Without You

Pardon the U2 reference.  I couldn’t help myself.

Trolling (not in a bad way!) the Occupy Wall Street forums and discussion networks that have sprung up these past weeks, I’ve come across numerous arguments between the different factions of the OWS movement, which all seems to be taking various directions.  They share a collective theme of fiscal responsibility and getting banks out of government, but there are those who advocate simple legal reform and those who advocate total restructuring of said government.

I’m reminded while reading this of the American Revolution.  The country had similar divisions.  All shared the sentiment that colonial rule was unjust.  But some wanted to have talks with the British government and institute tax reform, and others wanted to simply rebel and start their own country.

Incidentally, the latter eventually got their way.

Could we be headed for the same path?

At present, it’s too early to tell.  These protests are the first symptoms of a major flaw in the system, a flaw that’s revealed early and can either be quashed or intensified, depending on the people’s willpower and the ruling system’s refusal to meet the peoples’ demands.  The early stages of revolution, which include mass protests and popular dissent, typically lead to governments offering small morsels by which to appease the people.  Right now, the government hasn’t done anything, so there’s no way to tell which direction this could lead.  But let’s discuss, for a moment, the possibility of these protests turning into something much bigger:

Revolution.

That’s right, the big R.  Open revolt.  Mention this to your average person, and they’ll immediately think of Communists waving red flags or masked men shooting Ak-47s in the air of some 3rd world country.  But revolution?  Few people take this seriously nowadays.

Unfortunately, every political and economic system must die sometime, and our time may be coming to an end.  But why on earth would we revolt? Are we really that pissed off?

According to some, yes.  Remember, revolutions are usually instigated and instituted by an angry minority.  Sure, they need popular backing, but most people don’t participate.  Remember, radicals change countries, moderates run them.  Right now, there’s not enough unity or support to instigate revolution.

But let’s say we could revolt.  Why and how are the first major questions.

Why?

1.  Capitalism as we know it is broken.  What began as a method of economic individualism and entrepeneurial freedom has become oligarchic and aristocratic.  This should be self evident.  All class/economic systems undergo this transformation as power shifts.  It’s essentially a cycle.  We’ve reached the end of that cycle.

2. Our government is broken.  We, the people, have no power over our elected officials.  We need to institute a real democracy (or as close as we can get.  We’re pretty far from that right now).

Reason enough, for me, to rethink our socioeconomic structure.  But how?

Here’s where it gets tricky.  Either you reform an old, dying system (capitalism) and prolong its lifespan another half century before it fails again, or you rebuild it with a new system from the ground up.  This is where we distinguish the reformers from the revolutionaries (again, let me remind you that reformers fix symptoms, revolutionaries fix problems).

So how do you replace capitalism? Get rid of money? Possible.  But then how are goods and services provided? Barter? Trade? Not in today’s global world.  Perhaps water down capitalism, get it out of politics, decentralize banks, loosen corporate control.  But that won’t stop the pull of greed.  Just as soon as you force capitalism to cooperate, it’ll sneak back in and take over again.

I think it’s obvious America has gotten in quite a pickle.  In tying our shoelaces, we’ve made so many knots it’s impossible to untie them all.  We NEED to start having real discussions about our future and figure out real AMERICAN solutions to our uniquely AMERICAN problem.  We have the capability to create a new, better society in this country.  We have the technology and the willpower.  We’re AMERICA, after all! The little country that could! Look at what we accomplished in 200 years!

Who’s to say we can’t go away and dream it all up again?

 

Generation Wh(y)?

I wanted to avoid writing about the Occupy protests now roiling in our city streets, for fear that this topical reactionary movement was symptomatic of an ultra-left retaliation against the vagaries of evil capitalism.  I was wrong.  This is an alarm clock, rattling on for not just America’s oppressed lower classes, but for an entire generation who, until now, have been anonymous and ambivalent.

Generation Wh(y).

We’re between the 30-40 somethings of Gen X and the kids and teens of the Millennials.  We grew up without Facebook, Twitter, and had only dial-up Internet.  We’ve got big ideas…if only we could do something.

Ernest Hemmingway coined the term ‘The Lost Generation’ to describe the group of 20-somethings who came of age post-World War I, when the world’s youth had become exceedingly disillusioned with the structures of bourgeois Western civilization.  This generation saw the collapse of aristocratic empires, the rise of socialism and populism, and the increasing demand for working class equality.

Sound familiar?

We are the next Lost Generation, and we’re on the brink of something big.  The Occupy protests are reflective of an anger at my generation’s inability to progress in our society, and they’re bringing in everyone else who’s finally realizing just how screwed up America has become.  Not like this should be unexpected.  Take a look at history: the early 1900s, for instance.  Rampant industrialism (dot-com boom?) created capitalist tycoons in America, holding over 80% of the country’s wealth.  Oil, banks, and railways were the culprits back then.  Today railways have been replaced by real estate (or insurance, take your pick), but the tycoons are back in action.  Instead of a Great Depression, we’ve had a Great Recession, only this time war didn’t revitalize our country.  It just made things worse.

People have long criticized my generation for their supposed apathy towards politics and voting.  The last decade has seen voting participation of people 18-30 drop to its lowest levels since the 1960s.  Popular culture lambasts traditional political structures (think John Stewart).  Clearly, my generation’s had it with politics.  And it’s not because we’re apathetic.  It’s because we know the system’s broken.

Question is: are the Occupy movements going to fix it?

The movement’s swelled to include more than just ultraliberals and hippie-holdouts trying to bring down ‘the man.’  It includes your average white and blue collar worker, the so-called silent majority of working class Americans who make the country run.  They’re sick of corporate government, and my generation is helping give them a voice.  Finally.  We’re inspired by the Arab spring, inspired by social media’s unifying powers of anonymity, inspired by the prospect of change.  But what kind of change can we bring?

 ”I don’t want to be rich.  I don’t want to live a lavish lifestyle.  I’m worried.  I’m scared, thinking about the future shakes me.”

So wrote a woman on Tumblr (courtesy the NY Times).  It reflects everything about Generation Why, and where we want our society to go.  With increasing technology, global awareness, and social interconnectedness, my generation’s goals are more about helping create a better world and living a happy, fulfilled life than climbing the socioeconomic ladder.  We’re fine with being middle class, as long as we can do our own thing.  Competition is becoming less important than cooperation.  We’re realizing that the old American dream, big car, two kids, nice house, good career, is just that: old.  We need a new America, and a new American dream.

Unfortunately, here’s where my Gen Why cynicism comes in.

The Occupy movements occupy (no pun intended) precarious ground.  They have the power to rally Americans and force the government to change.  At least, temporarily.  But how much power do the protests have in this regard? They can probably influence legislature, tax the rich more, decrease corruption a little.  But as long as the big C exists, so will greed, and so will lobbyists, and campaign contributions, and under-the-table favors.  We’ll fix the symptoms, but not the cause.

Some of the protesters, the more radical ones, are hinting at fixing the cause.  The sign above is just one example of their sentiment.  Capitalism’s the reason we’re in this mess.  Sure, it was good in theory, in a post-theocratic world.  Give every man the chance to succeed no matter his class, family, or trade.  It worked for hundreds of years, too.

But it’s failed us now.  Capitalism has become the new aristocracy.  We are subtly controlled by the rich, who influence our elected officials, who manipulate our economy, who regulate our society, all for their own benefit.  Sure, you can argue not everyone who’s rich is part of this aristocracy.  But with money comes power, and you know what John Dalberg said about absolute power.  Capitalism’s inherent flaw is it rewards selfish behavior.  After all, find me one current billionaire whose goal was to become rich to help others.  Altruism comes after the fact, not before.

Yet what can we do? We need a system to give us structure, otherwise we’d just go around stealing from each other.  Capitalism’s failing.  Communism failed.  Monarchies failed.  Is it time for something new? And if so, what? What can we replace Capitalism with?

I think my generation is starting to ask this question.  It might be up to the Millennials to answer it.  Either way, shit is definitely fucked up.  And we want to know Why.

We Did It

THERE HE IS! WITH THE RED HAT…AND ASSAULT RIFLE.

Now all that’s left is finding Carmen Sandiego.

Normally I refrain from putting my two cents into ‘historical’ events like this, but given the amount of celebration, debate, and uncertainty involving the death of the decade’s most wanted man, I feel obligated to touch on it.  You’d think, as I did initially, this whole thing would be cut and dried.  Osama is dead, we got him, mission accomplished.  But leave it to us to make mountains out of molehills.  And vice versa, in this case.

Osama Bin Laden was finally hunted down by US Navy SEALS at his home in Abottobad, Pakistan, right under the nose of the Pakistani military.  Best place to hide is, after all, in plain sight.  While we were busy looking in caves, Osama was busy relaxing with his family in a quaint fortress.  As with all egomaniacal radicals, he was at heart a coward, and died one.

His death seems to have stirred two sides of American public opinion right now, though.  I hate to categorize it, but essentially it’s the old “hawks” vs. “doves.”  There are those happy Osama was killed, celebrating, cheering, and reveling in their victorious revenge.  Then there are those who downplay Osama’s death and chastise the revelers for their gluttonous, war-like behavior, not celebrating because it’s not the moral thing to do.

Amazing how many vitriolic comments have emerged between these two camps in the past 24 hours.  The headlines in virtually every major news source were full of them, pages and pages.  They varied from “thank God the murderer is dead/he can burn in hell” to “it’s never OK to celebrate the death of another human”, with all sorts of in-betweens.  Many people felt they were justified in celebrating Osama’s death; after all, he killed our citizens, so why not rejoice? Others felt it was wrong to celebrate a death, no matter how bad that person was, and emphasized that this by no means makes much difference in the current war on terror.

Good points emerged from both camps, but out of the commentators’ disjointed arguments came a deeper, more pressing question.  How should we react to the death of our enemy? And more importantly, why does this matter?

The little seeds of revenge in all Americans were clearly evident in yesterday’s and today’s celebrations.  For those who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks, killing the mastermind behind these attacks was a fitting method of justice.  Hence the celebrations.  These folks, the ones directly affected by Osama’s actions and plans, had all the reason to rejoice, even though Osama’s death was only symbolic to them.  They reveled at the closure created by this event, more so than the event itself.

Others celebrated more childishly.  In many crowds, Americans engaged in self-glorification, lowering themselves to the level of radicals who burn effigies, chant “kill Americans”, and cheer at destructive suicide bombers.  For these people, I have nothing but contempt.  This behavior truly does make us no better than the very ‘enemies’ we seek to destroy.

On the other side, there were those who frowned on celebrating, slapping the wrists of any who dared get a sense of triumph from Osama Bin Laden’s demise.  Unfortunately, many came across as extremely self-righteous, forgetting the fact that celebration for some was more cathartic than vengeful.  Indeed, the downfall of any repressive or murderous figure is always met with some degree of joy and relief.

But in all of this debate and frenzied opinion-making, people began posing the question: is it good for us to rejoice in the death of another, despite that person’s horrific actions? Answers varied from “yes” to “hell, no!”  I, for one, can myself offer no concrete statement.  Vengeance is a deeply human trait, and to not feel some sense of satisfaction at the fall of one who has done grievous wrong would be difficult, if not impossible, to ask.

And yet is it possible, even necessary, for the human race to cross this barrier of vengeance? One thing we all tend to forget when it comes to ‘villains’ is that nobody’s a villain from day one.  There are no ‘evil’ babies.  We are born with a clean slate.  It is our choices that define us.  ”Hate the deed, not the man,” an unknown speaker once stated.  Should people like Osama Bin Laden, or Hitler, or any other mass murder be hated?  Much of this world would say ‘absolutely.’

And this makes me wonder…what if we had the ability to not hate?

One thing’s for sure.  If that were the case, none of us would grow up to become the next Bin Laden or Hitler.

What’s Wrong With Film?

Just got done reading some of the latest entertainment news, reviews, and industry analysis in the Hollywood Reporter. Catchin up, you know. And quite frankly, a lot of the news was just downright shitty. There’s not much sign of life in the industry right now. Filmmaking…well, it kindda just sucks. And what doesn’t suck either isn’t getting seen or isn’t anything remarkable. Nothing’s been generating any stir lately. The last thing that really, truly did something unique and different in recent memory was Inception…and the industry has pretty much ignored that.

So I’m posing a question. What the **** is wrong with film?

Seriously. Where do you think film is heading? What do YOU think needs to happen for great movies to start getting made again? What would get you off your butt and into a cinema again? Is the internet, Youtube, and cheap digital technology actually killing quality filmmaking?

Discuss. I can’t figure this one out, guys.

Where Have All The Writers Gone?

This entire entry may just turn into a rant, so beware.  It all comes about because I read an article in GQ the other day (someone from Facebook shared it and I was interested.  This being said, I am not a daily reader of GQ.)

I’ll summarize the article quickly so those of you just passing through don’t have to actually read it.  Basically, it details the sorry state of our current film industry and poses the question: is original scriptwriting a dead (or dying) art? And can Hollywood get through its worst creative slump since…well, ever?

The article doesn’t offer much hope, considering the witty list of films it provides as evidence Hollywood’s path is headed unwaveringly towards further creative slumping.  Basically all the films listed are those slated to come out this year or next year.  All are studio films.  They include adaptations of comic books, sequels, sequels of sequels, adaptations of board games, toys, and previous franchises, reboots, remakes, etc., etc.  You get the picture.

So what? You might be saying.  Independent films are doin’ just fine.  Saw plenty of good ones this year.

True.  But independent films do not make an industry.  I’m sure there’s plenty of decent writers out there, writing good stuff, and getting those films made.  That doesn’t mean Hollywood is a-okay.  How many people outside the festival circuit will ever see those independently made films? And how many people will care?  The answer is…not many.

Our business is sick.  Really, really sick.  Sicker than it was in 1969, when box office returns were the lowest ever and the studios were on the verge of collapse.  Why?

The writer is getting lost.

Consider the amount of original scripts being pitched to studios and production companies today.  Almost 70% are based on something.  90% suck.  Trust me.  I’ve read many of them.  They suck.  They really do.  So that leaves 30% of the 10% of scripts that don’t suck and are original.  How many of those are getting made? Independently, probably 9 or 10.  Through a studio? Less than 3.  And not only that, but people buying scripts are actively avoiding anything remotely original.  Too much risk nowadays, they say.  The small percentage of scripts that are good and original (that measly 3%) and do end up getting made…well, they’re your festival films.  You’ll see ‘em in a few years if they’re lucky enough to get picked up by a specialty distributor.

Are you beginning to see what’s wrong with this picture? Not only are a minuscule amount of good original films being made today, but the amount that actually get seen by the general public is abysmally small! Now, you might say, hasn’t this always been the case?

Nope.  Studios and production companies, until the mid 2000s, actually had a huge lineup of writers pitching original ideas, day in and day out.  Granted, they had to be really good original ideas to get made, and no script ever got made easily.  But statistically, the period of 1970-2000 saw an average of around 20-30 original scripts being produced by major studios every year.  More were made independently.  Nowadays? The average is about….zero.  Gone are the days when a writer could actually make a living pitching original scripts.  Now if you want something made, you have to bend over backwards and pray somebody likes you enough to throw some money your way.

As a writer, I’m pretty miffed about the whole thing.  I think writing definitely has gone down the toilet this past decade, judging from the films I’ve seen.  Even the best new writers emerging (mostly on the independent scene) still don’t seem to wow me like they used to.  But the bigger problem is that the movie industry itself is getting publicly labeled as shitty because nobody’s giving writers the chance to do something good for a change.  And when the viewing public starts seeing the film industry as shitty, they start seeing films as shitty.  And that, my friends, is a death knell for cinema as we know it.

So what can we do about this? Seems like film is getting battered on all sides these days.  Internet and television are shortening our attention spans, HD video is turning everyone and their cousin into a ‘filmmaker,’ and Hollywood is sinking further and further into the realm of mindless entertainment.  There was once a time, long, long ago when movie studios counted quality instead quantity…when the folks in Hollywood cared deeply about filmmaking as an art and a craft.

That’s the Hollywood I fell in love with as a child.

So…what can we do about it?

No idea.  But I’ll be damned if I don’t try.

 

The Oscars. Reviewed.

YO.  I’M OSCAR.  I’M GOLD.  BITCH.

So, guess I never did get around to writing all those Oscar nominated movie reviews.  Ah well.  Such is the life of an unemployed filmmaker.  But since I never wrote reviews on the films, how about I write one on the Oscars themselves! Yeah.

I’ll start by being bluntly honest.

THAT SUCKED.  As far as Oscar telecasts goes, that was one of the worst I’ve seen in years.  Who on earth put a stoned James Franco and a giggly Anne Hathaway (who seemed to laugh at her own jokes…) as Oscar hosts? Granted, their prerecorded segment was hilarious.  Loved the Inception references (of course).  But without the cameras, both of them turned…well, boring.  With very lame jokes.  It wasn’t until Kirk Douglas came onstage and made them both look like idiots with his barely understandable comedy that I felt a breath of life from the show.  That and when previous host Billy Crystal made an appearance to pay homage to unforgettable host Bob Hope.  Too bad Crystal didn’t stay.  Damn I miss when he used to host…

But, when Franco and Hathaway weren’t busy giggling, singing, or staring vaguely off into the distance, the awards never quite picked up.  I blame the relative lack of competition and excitement that’s colored previous Oscar shows.  King’s Speech walked away with 4 out of 12 awards, tying Inception.  There were no sweeps, upsets, or moments of hanging on the edge of your seat.  Things pretty much went as predicted.  My own predictions, too, went as anticipated, although there were a few mild surprises.  Best Director going to Tom Hooper was the only real up-in-the-air category, although thinking back, it was the obvious choice.  Best Cinematography, too, proved surprising to me, but again, in retrospect, it was obvious.  Made me extremely glad to see Cinematography get taken by a movie actually SHOT on film (take that Social Network!).  My only true gripe of the evening was seeing King’s Speech win best original screenplay, which is entirely predictable given that the writer is pushing 80.  The Academy loves voting for someone like that.  How the script is even eligible for the original screenplay category is beyond me.  Yet another ridiculous rule of the Academy that needs desperately to be changed.  I’m sorry, but how can something be original when the entire story (a person’s life) has been created already?  Original? No.  That’s not original.

However, King’s Speech did pick up the nod for Best Picture, which I did agree with.  Now if only those bloody Brits would have shown the slightest amount of excitement, maybe the show wouldn’t have been so boring.  At least Colin Firth gave a funny speech.

As far as the overall feel of this year’s show, I felt desperate and forced attempts by the Oscar producers to reach out to the youth audience.  First by having Franco and Hathaway as hosts (FAIL), second by having the misplaced (albeit hilarious) auto-tuned musical montage halfway through.  Here’s some advice, aging Academy.  Either make the show accessible to the youth audience by actually having someone younger than 40 produce the damn thing, or stick to a classic, upbeat format with a funny host and a snappy, well-paced show.

Overall, the 83rd Academy Awards were far lamer than usual.  The films, not so much.  I feel filmmaking has picked up a little this year, with some very good works produced and hopefully with them a little more push towards quality filmmaking in the future.  It’s a lot to hope for however.  If this year’s films were any indicator, things are getting better.  But something’s still missing…

Maybe I’ll have to do something about that.