Oscars 2014: 10 Things The Academy Can Learn From Sunday Night

by Mike Reyes

1. Please, No Themed Shows (Or Politics)michelle-obama-oscars-600 Two moments had me literally waiting for the backlash in the general public: the announcement that the show had a "theme", and the introduction of Michelle Obama to announce the winner for Best Picture. One is more of a general gripe, and the other is more of a common sense advisory, so I'll tackle them respectively. In the case of "Themed Shows", that's just a stupid idea. It's as if you asked that girl on your floor in your Freshman Dorm who LOVES theme parties to come up with an awards show. You're opening the door to painfully shoe-horned tributes, overly long musical numbers (or interpretivedance), and awkwardly selected themes. ("A Tribute to Foreign Films", "OSCAR! OSCAR! OSCAR! ", and "A Musical Tribute to Our Lesser Known Presidents" come to mind.) So unless you really want to see Anne Hathaway dressed as Martin Van Buren, I'd suggest we can the themes. As for the First Lady's appearance, this is another precident that needs to end right here and now for the most obvious reason: you're asking for it, it being another in a long line of arguments that question how cozy politics and showbusiness are. As if people weren't already crying over Zero Dark Thirty's possible political implications, Argo's relevance to the more recent events at the Benghazi embassy, and Lincoln being a Republican, The Academy basically said "Come at us, Conservatives" by having Michelle Obama present the top honor of the night. Despite the fact that other political figures have done exactly the same thing, from both sides as a matter of fact, the controversy was palpable the moment the First Lady came on screen. So for your own sake, and for the sake of all political wonks out there, don't add yet another outlet of needlessly snarky punditry to our already heavy workload. Just don't. So there you have it, What Culture Republic! The good, the bad, and the derpy of the 2013 Academy Awards. What sorts of notes do you want to give on the proceedings? Throw down in the Comments section below, and thanks for reading! (And Mr. MacFarlane, PLEASE reconsider. Billy Crystal's starting to get too old for the song and dance business.)

Contributor
Contributor

Mike Reyes may or may not be a Time Lord, but he's definitely the Doctor Who editor here at What Culture. In addition to his work at What Culture, Mr. Reyes writes for Cocktails and Movies, as well as his own personal blogs Mr. Controversy and The Bookish Kind. On top of that, he's also got a couple Short Stories and Novels in various states of completion, like any good writer worth their salt. He resides in New Jersey, and compiles his work from all publications on his Facebook page.