Wednesday, March 4, 2015

I Am Not My Own Demographic

My wife and I went to an Oscars event at a local theater not because we wanted to actually see the Oscars, this year -- both of us were rather underwhelmed with the nominations -- but because we (especially my wife) wanted to see Neil Patrick Harris host the Oscars. In that, we were not disappointed. He made it worth it to me with his opening line, "We are here to honor the best and the whitest..." That followed by his opening number made the expense of going to see the Oscars at a special venue completely worth it even if it was all downhill from there, though I was gratified that Birdman got best picture and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu got best director for it. Oh! The performance of "Glory" from Selma was also amazing.

However, Eddie Redmayne as best actor? Give me a break. All he did was sit in a chair and drool. John Travolta (who is not an actor I enjoy at all), did a better job of presenting than Redmayne did as Hawking. But I digress...

Yes, it was required that my wife and I go out to see the Oscars, because we don't have "TV." We could have followed the results online, but we couldn't actually watch the show without going out... somewhere... to do that. But it was a charity event, so that was kind of cool.

But here's the thing: It was full of people that are of the demographic I should belong to... but really don't. My wife and I were among the youngest people there. Well, maybe there were some people in their late 30s but, mostly, it was white people in the 40s and up. This is the group of people that I should theoretically belong to. And, I suppose, the fact that I was there at all means that I must overlap a some points other than relative age and race, but it certainly didn't feel that way.

For one thing, my wife and I reacted to a lot more of the political talk than pretty much anyone else there in terms of agreeing with it. We laughed at more of the jokes and, I think, appreciated more of what was going on. Especially when it had to with inequities within the Academy itself. [Just to point out, the Academy is more than 90% white and nearly 80% men. Rich, old white guys with OWDS.]

But it was the ongoing disdain from the host and the crowd against super heroes and comic books that really allowed me to see how I just don't fit in with "my" crowd. There were multiple comments about how glad we should all be that no super heroes were nominated for... anything. I just want to point out that super heroes have never been nominated. For anything. However, Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier were better than at least half of the nominees. Seriously, Whiplash? What a piece of crap. The Theory of Everything, too. Both worthless movies.

Benedict Cumberbatch, though, shined the brightest light on the issue. The host, a little Susan Sarandon number (seriously, if she had said, "Hey, I'm Susan," I might have actually believed her), had a serious thing for Benedict. During the commercial breaks, she was asking trivia questions (for prizes), and she got to this one:
What Marvel character is Benedict Cumberbatch signed on to play in an upcoming movie?
And there was... silence. Which was quite a contrast to all of the other questions which had had people immediately yelling answers. After enough of a pause that it was obvious that no one was going to say anything (and I think she was about to tell the answer), I shouted, "Dr. Strange!" And, see, she was surprised that I knew that. She had not expected an answer. Then, she said, "I don't even know what comic book that is," (or something like that), and I said, "Dr. Strange!" And she was surprised again. Seriously.

There were a couple of hundred people there, and no one else knew that. That's as basic as water to me. Or air. But it's not that I have a specialized knowledge set that that group of people didn't have; it was the reaction to my specialized knowledge set that was the issue. The host was both disdainful and dismissive of it, and she was fairly representative of the class of people that were there. It made me feel as if I was an anthropomorphized raccoon sitting there in the theater.

Okay, so not really.

Because I really am an anthropomorphized raccoon.

Okay, fine! I'm not.

I am Groot.

>sigh<
Fine!

Anyway, the point is that I don't really fit into this group of people I'm supposed to fit into, and I probably do a lot better job of it here in California than I ever would have done in the South. I'm sure that's why I don't live there anymore. According to my wife, anyway. It might help if I wanted to fit in with the group of "white dudes" or "rich, old white dudes" or whatever. Not that I wouldn't take "rich," I suppose, at least up to a point. But, my gosh, when the only recognition a movie like Selma gets is for the song, then something is wrong. Granted, it's a great song. Again, I'm just going to say, at least Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu got acknowledged for Birdman.

26 comments:

  1. I love that you knew the answer. My hubby would have too. Me, not so much. Not because I suffer from OWDS (I remember that post!) but because it's out of my genre. I think those of us who don't fit into any specific generalization are not just unique because of our differences, but lucky too.

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    1. Elsie: I understand it being out of people's genres. It was the automatic disdain that troubled me.
      And trust me; I don't want to be a "type."

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  2. I wouldn't have fit there either. Is there a place for aging geeks? And why the disdain for comic book movies? The two you named were the best two movies last year.
    It's like at my church. There's a group for older people fifty-five and up. I'm five years away from it, but I've seen the members, and it will be at least twenty years before I even think of going to one of their events because no way I will fit in.

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    1. Alex: The more I think about it, the more I think that Winter Soldier got a bum deal. It's an excellent movie that deals with current, controversial topics, and it got no recognition whatsoever.

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  3. I still haven't seen any of the nominated movies, so I can't really comment there. At some point I'll watch Birdman, I suppose.

    As for not fitting in, I think that's not a bad thing. Look at how much stuff out there is terrible or boring or both; do you want to fit in with the people who love that? The people who kept watching "Two And A Half Men" FOREVER?

    I'm fine with not being part of that group.

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    1. Briane: I'm not saying that I want to fit in, because I don't. I've never fit in, so why start now? Right. However, it is surprising to me, occasionally, just how much I don't fit in.

      I've never seen Two and a Half Men.

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  4. I'm still so glad you explained Birdman to me 'cause I'm too stoopit to even understand that movie.

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    1. JKIR,F!: I want to see it again.
      But I don't believe you when you say you're too... what is that word you used, anyway?

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  5. I'd rather just get the results online than sit through 5 hours of that. Whiplash sounds like crap but I like JK Simmons, who I guess was originally from the Detroit area. Yay!

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    1. Pat: Simmons was excellent. It's too bad the movie was so ridiculous.

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  6. The only nominated movie I saw was The Grand Budapest Hotel. Loved it. And, no, I wouldn't have known the answer to the comic book question either. I'd never heard of half those superheroes until the movies came out. Just not a world I ever had much contact with. *Gasp* I don't even do video games.

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    1. L.G.: Grand Budapest was awesome. It's probably Anderson's best movie, but I still like Moonrise Kingdom the best.

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  7. AGAIN, a comment eaten. *sigh* I really hate Blogger. :P

    In any case, I don't keep up with entertainment news, so I probably wouldn't have known that answer, either.... though I do think I may have heard that somewhere several weeks ago. The only thing I'm grinding my teeth over is that Scarlet Johannson is signed on to play the Major from Ghost in the Shell's live adaptation. Does she really need to play EVERY female superhero? Even the Asian ones?

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    1. Alex H: The Comment Monster must be targeting you.

      Look, Hollywood, right now, only has -one- female super hero so, yes, she has to play them all. That's how Hollywood works. Maybe there will be two, though, after Avengers 2 comes out.

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  8. We eventually see all the movies when they come on Netflex, so by then I've forgotten which ones were considered awesome. I won't get into it, but I seldom agree with the nominations or the winners. Stopped watching the Oscars years ago for that reason. Love your post. Happy IWSG.

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    1. Joylene: Our Oscar project has nothing to do with agreement. It was all about broadening our horizons. Mostly, though, it's begun to show us just how small the view is from the Academy with their very narrow range of things they find acceptable.

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  9. Not only do I not fit any demographic, but as all my friends are an eclectic bunch of writers, I don't even know anyone who fits the mainstream demographic. I haven't watched the Oscars since Life of Pi won a few years ago. That's when I knew I was too out-of-step to watch anymore.

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    1. Lexa: Argo won best picture that year. I think Lee got best director, though? I could go look, but I'm not going to. I think Argo was an acceptable choice. I'm not sure if it was the best choice, but it wasn't a horrible choice.

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  10. I've always found it hard to fit in with the people I'm supposed to fit in with. Boy, am I glad I didn't go to a party like that. I would...not react well to disdain. It would be unpleasant for all involved.

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    1. Jeanne: Well, it wasn't directed at me; it was directed at comic books. What was directed at me was amazement... amazement that anyone in the room would know the answer to that question.

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  11. I hadn't seen the movies involved in the Oscars, but I watched because it's been an annual thing for me since I was a kid. I loved NPH's hosting and the line about the whitest. I can't judge Eddie Redmayne since I haven't seen the movie, but I'm always a bit sad when someone so young gets the award, especially over someone like Keaton.The young ones haven't proven themselves yet.

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    1. Shannon: I don't mind an Oscar win from someone younger if it's actually a great performance, like Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook. But Redmayne SAT IN A CHAIR for most of the movie.

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  12. I'm always an outsider. Perhaps I'm a superhero and just haven't found my super power yet. Nothing wrong with being the only anthropomorphous racoon in the room. Really.

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    1. dolorah: Oh, yeah, I know there's nothing wrong with it. I just still get surprised by it sometimes. I don't know why I do, but I do.

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  13. Personally I thought the song "Glory" sucked on the Oscars. I am not a fan of rap. However I did go to YouTube to just see if the movie version of the song was any better and I'll admit I did like it better there. I guess I got turned off at the outset by the Ferguson, MO reference--I mean really people I don't think I'd be using that incident as a building stone of my cause.

    The number that surprised me most was Lady Gaga's turn to the traditional. I was impressed that she pulled that off so well.

    To me the Academy and all of its dedicated fans amounts to mostly a bunch of liberal hokum. I rarely am in agreement with many of the winners let alone the nominees. And the parade of speeches is such a bore. And yet I tend to watch the darn thing year after boring year, I guess more out of a tradition that started in my childhood and carries on to this day. I've missed quite a few I'm sure, but it's barely noticeable that I missed any since I only half watch with my mind in other places. I doubt whether I'd ever actually leave my house for an Oscar event unless there was a lot of free stuff or I actually was invited to attend the ceremony in person. That's not gonna happen though.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    A Faraway View

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    1. Lee: Gaga's performance was really good. And I think she was crying after Andrews talked to her, which was touching.

      As for Ferguson, with new findings there, it might be the perfect platform for racial talks considering the long-running patterns of racism and injustice there.

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