Of course MTV died anyway. Superseded by music video on the internet. But everything is time-stamped, don't you know? But for a few decades there, MTV ruled not only music, but popular culture. The oldsters didn't abandon the channel when it jettisoned the original VJs, it was shocked, shrugged, and stayed tuned in.
Who in the hell's idea was it to have Conan O'Brien host the Oscars? I've got no problem with the orange-haired Harvard graduate, then again, the Lampoon hasn't ruled anything in comedy other than SNL for years. Yet there are comedians all over YouTube, Netflix, who appeal to the younger generations. But I don't think the Academy brass knows this. Because don't you know that the internet and YouTube are the enemy? You've got to see a movie on the big screen, in a theatre. Just like you've got to read a physical book purchased in an indie bookstore. Even worse, the cohort of baby boomers is so large that it convinces itself that it's in touch and right.
Hogwash.
My mother and her cronies went to the movies constantly. Because that's what they grew up doing. If it was Saturday, they picked a flick. Any flick. It didn't really matter, they were going. When was the last time you decided to go to the multiplex and bought a ticket for what was starting right then? Oh, maybe if you're an oldster, but not if you're a youngster. Youngsters live in an on demand culture. They do what they want when they want to. And if the schedule doesn't comport with this, they don't partake. This is why distribution is king. Content is not enough if it's not on the right streaming channel and available 24/7.
And speaking of distribution, the Academy should have had a weekend wherein all nominated films were on a streaming service. At least then there'd be a chance that people would have seen the pictures. It's not so much that the movies were bad, but that few have seen them. Make it easy, create excitement. But no, those in control of this telecast, this process, are not only afraid of technology, they still think the Oscars are a cultural rite.
But we haven't had that spirit here since the last century. And that was TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO!
Quick, ask a young 'un if they're going to watch the Oscars.
Of course not! Sit through a multi-hour telecast with all those commercials? If anything good happens, they'll see the clips the next day and then forget about the whole damn thing. Quick, who won ANY Oscar last year? Can you remember? Today's society moves so fast that everything is plowed under. Which is why you make the event stand alone and forget any gravitas. Gravitas is elusive, the public decides what lasts, and very little does. We live in a throwaway society.
And those are the films young people go to see, if any. As a matter of fact, Marvel movies and their ilk are declining in popularity. I mean once you've seen the trick... Would you be interested if a musical act made the same damn album over and over? This is what people say they want, but this is untrue. The public wants something new and different, innovative. They can't tell you what it is, but when they find it they embrace it.
Why is it boomers want to keep intact traditions of the past? I mean it's one thing to lobby for the preservation of edifices. But what's next, the preservation of slang? Do we need to convince the younger generations that A Flock of Seagulls was cool? There were some great bands in the eighties, but a lot of schlock too.
So you roll out crusty actors as if they're icons but to the younger generation these two-dimensional vessels are not heroes. The internet has eviscerated the power of actors, they can't even open a flick, never mind a streaming TV show. No, to be revered by today's younger generations you must evidence your identity. As a musician, as an influencer. Phony is anathema.
Kind of like the Oscar ceremony itself.
How about a dressed-down Oscars, like Zelensky.
But it's all about the red carpet!
So why don't you have fashion and beauty influencers interview those on the walkway, why not do something to entice the younger generations?
No, the Oscars would rather die. Sink like a ship. Whilst blaming the audience for being dumb and out of the loop.
No, it's the Oscars that are dumb and out of the loop.
I don't care if you watch. Enjoy it. I used to live for it, but no more. If I want to watch something at home...And I watch everything at home, what a pain the theatre experience is, you've got to drive there and wait for the flick to come and even worse it doesn't start when you want it to! One of the reasons I gave up going to the theatre was because I'd sit there revved up from work and not be able to enjoy the picture, whereas at home the picture starts (and stops!) when I want it to...I watch a series. All the talk is about series. Because you can marinate in them, invest in them. Singles ruled until the Beatles made the album a statement. And now retro-thinking acts are so busy creating their albums that they've lost sight of the fact that in a fast-paced world you need a single to get people interested. Makes me crazy when musicians say they've got to make an album. Who's got the time to listen to so much dreck. You've got to earn the audience's attention!
And the Oscars have fumbled people's attention for years. I don't mind a long show, even younger generations love to binge series all weekend, but I've got no time for boring. If you've got my attention you've got to keep it, you've got to earn it.
And you've got to have a sense of humor about yourself, otherwise people don't respect you. Enough about the power of movies, how many people are watching around the world. I'd rather hear jokes about how no one has seen the winners!
What I've written is heresy. Assuming you care. Which most people do not.
We live in an attention economy. To matter, you must get people's attention. Most of the films themselves did not get people's attention, why should they watch a show celebrating them? The whole thing looks like a circle jerk, if you pay attention at all!
I'm not saying visual entertainment is bad, lacking or history. As a matter of fact, it's flourishing! It's the heartbeat of the world more than ever. But the Oscars are out of time. They're playing to a dying generation that remembers when.
I remember when...
But the real excitement is living in the present.
But most boomers and the Academy refuse to do so.
As for the studios... There's no Robert Evans, there's not even a Barry Diller, who made his name in TV anyway. We all know Reed Hastings, and most people know Ted Sarandos. But the head of a studio? We need DOGE for Hollywood, these puffed-up people make way too much money considering their output and success rate.
But orthodoxy persists. Just like Congress and Trump. You don't want to speak the truth, you don't want to cross the line. It's groupthink 24/7 as the leader drives you off a cliff.
But people are hungry for the new and different, for honesty, for credibility.
GIVE IT TO THEM!
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