The Oscars 2012: Was It Worth Watching?

The 84th Academy Awards, also called the Oscars 2012, happened on Sunday and was over after a couple of interminable hours. But is this really what the show has come down to? Are we calling a series of bad and awkward jokes, some small talk about movies most of the audience didn’t even see, and a televised show that most people on Facebook and Twitter ended up ridiculing, the great Oscars that we used to watch? There was something not that right the other day, and the Academy Awards just didn’t have what they used to have, perhaps making them not even worthy of being watched.
This was a painful night indeed, and the show itself left a lot to be desired. Angelina Jolie’s awkward pose was just one of a multitude of examples. It brought a torrent of Twitter comments, mostly talking about what had happened right there on the show floor, than anything to do with the movies that were supposed to be honored. In fact, some of those comments were more thoughtful than anything heard on the Oscars themselves. Then there was the George Clooney kiss, where Billy Crystal might have been more funny if he actually didn’t look like an old lady. The Borscht Belt gags did not help either, neither did Robert Downey Jr trying to be funny. All in all, it was more awkward, weird and strange, than funny, or even entertaining. Watching the stream of social commentaries was more diverting, that’s for sure. And this was all only the beginning.
It seemed like the whole show was an afterthought, an occasion to talk about friends and families of actors and important people, rather than popular movies. Some of the movies honored were not even in the theatres where actual people could watch them. It seemed like what aired on ABC was devoid of useful content, and filled with, well, filler, aimed at growing ratings, and make sure people would watch from start to finish, where they even took extra care to shut down any illegal stream that could pop up on the net. To get the actual facts, like who won what, and which movies ended up pleasing these people more, all you had to do was follow your favorite social stream, so at least that much wasn’t lost on us. There’s really nothing worse than an Oscars show that doesn’t deliver, except perhaps one that tries, and then fails so hard that you feel like you’ve wasted your evening.
Sure, the Oscars are still a big occasion, a large event that will likely come back next year. But what’s the point, again? Did we forget about the very existence of the Oscars, and when did we replace that with what we’re left with? A series of gags that aren’t funny, except when rehashed through the Twitter commentaries. Nothing worth watching at all. Certainly not the quality we were used to, years ago.