Every year on Oscar Sunday, people say to me, “This is your Super Bowl, right?”
Sure, why not. The only difference is, Pete Carroll isn’t going to make THE WORST CALL IN THE HISTORY OF SPORTS in the last minute of the Oscar telecast.
Sorry. Still working out my issues on that one.
We have more televised awards shows now than at any time in the history of the medium, but the Academy Awards are still the biggest and the most prestigious.
If your film is nominated for a Golden Globe, that’s pretty cool — but “Patch Adams,” “Burlesque,” the remake of “Sabrina,” “Analyze This,” “The Tourist” and “Nuts” also received Golden Globe nods, so there’s that.
This year the most tightly contested races are for best actor, where Eddie Redmayne is a slight favorite over Michael Keaton, with some analysts saying there’s a chance of an upset win for Bradley Cooper, and best picture, which could go to “Birdman.”
Or “Boyhood.”
Or “American Sniper.”
Or even “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”
The most compelling storyline might play out BEFORE the show, on the red carpet, thanks to the #AskHerMore campaign, the social media movement for actresses to receive more respectful and insightful questions from all those microphone-wielding entertainment reporters.
A group called the Representation Project started the campaign, which was then adopted by Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls group. Jennifer Siebel Newsom of the Representation Project told the Hollywood Reporter the red carpet “obviously perpetuates an unhealthy toxic culture. … There’s so much opportunity here for the media to right the wrongs that it has been perpetuating by limiting women [to be defined by] their beauty and sexuality.”
From A-list actresses refusing to submit to the E! Channel’s dopey mani-cam to Cate Blanchett asking a camera operator lingering on her body if he does the same thing to male nominees, it seems as if there’s a growing number of actresses who are growing tired of the “Who are you wearing?” and “How did you get in such great shape?” questions, while their male counterparts are more likely to be asked about researching a role, their fellow nominees and other work-related queries.
Look. It’s the red carpet. Having worked it for nearly 10 years (and avoiding the “Who are you wearing?” question like it was a virus), I can sympathize with reporters who are crammed into tiny spaces behind plastic hedges and are allowed about 30 seconds with an interviewee before a publicist whisks her away. I’m all for more respectful questions of actresses. I could not possibly care less who or what or how someone is wearing. Nobody in real life dresses like that anyway.
I think we’ll see some entertainment journalists trying their best to avoid the superficial questions.
Just don’t expect in-depth, lengthy dialogue about the issues of the day. The red carpet is still going to be a fast-moving people mover for the nominees to negotiate before they’re shepherded into the theater.
Let’s not expect Seacrest to be up for a Peabody for his awards coverage this year.
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