Confession: I’m not sure I really care about the Oscars

It’s true. If it weren’t for a vague sense of obligation to write something about them on this here movie blog, I might be ignoring all this Oscar stuff. Part of it is a vague sense that the winners are based on political maneuvering on the inside (remember the campaign for Shakespeare in Love?), and I’m just a dorky outsider with my nose pressed against the window, taking it at face value. (That’s kind of how I feel about Wall Street, too. I’m a hair away from stuffing my money in my mattress.)

But I think it’s also that it threatens to make Hollywood’s views more important than our own. I mean, I thought Sally Hawkins was brilliant in Happy Go Lucky. If she didn’t get a nomination, am I supposed to take my own opinion less seriously? Am I really supposed to think that Angelina Jolie was better in The Changeling? I don’t think so. And I don't have a lot of faith in the taste of someone who does.

Hence my irritation as I perused the list of nominees yesterday—which ultimately culminated in the I-don’t-know-if-I-care attitude.

Viewers’ opinions count when it comes to box offices, but beyond that….nope. I guess our ticket is our “vote,” so to speak. And we’re supposed to leave it at that. But it’s hard when some movies, actors and directors make us care enough to want them acknowledged for their artistry. And yes, I know it’s all subjective.

But for those of us who care, it hurts to see Hawkins dissed, while Angelina Jolie is nominated for standard Hollywood crap. Meanwhile, seeing the deserving Melissa Leo nominated for the much smaller picture, Frozen River, just confuses me. (Leo, fyi, played a mother of two, living on the edge, with a modest but almost unattainable dream of getting a better trailer for the family. Her performance is gutsy, believable and heartbreaking.) Great, but why not Hawkins, too? Did someone pull a string to get Angelina on the list?

Wait, I don’t care, right? Breathe, Elizabeth.

I’m a little confused. And weary. In the end, as I said, I’m not sure I care about the awards, especially when they’re so perverse. I don’t really need Hollywood’s validation. I just want to keep seeing good movies, and the bottom line is that seeing some of the crap that’s on the list this year—and knowing what isn’t on it—makes me fearful that 2010 and (shiver) maybe even 2011 is going to be full of yet more Benjamin Buttons.