Oscar 2013: The Show: Just Regular Folks

The 86th Academy Awards, which aired this past Sunday, got the highest ratings in ten years. I'm not quite sure that is, since the show itself was a dull slog, had no surprises, and was hosted by a woman whose schtick is to be desperately liked. I suppose Ellen DeGeneres is liked, especially by the target demographic--women. After all, this telecast is unofficially known as the "female Super Bowl," and Ellen brings in the women.

I have two streams of commentary here. One is on the show, the other on the winners. I'll start with the latter. There is almost nothing to say, because there were no gasp-inducing surprises. I got 20 out of 24 right. When the biggest surprise among Oscarphiles was the winner of the Best Animated Short, then it's pretty much a routine evening.

But while the winners weren't a surprise, some of them were meaningful. Alfonso Cuaron was the first Latino to win Best Director, and 12 Years a Slave was the first Best Picture to be directed by a black (who also was one of the statuette-winning producers, another first). I think we also saw the birth of a star in Lupita Nyong'o, who won Best Supporting Actress. This category has been known to be a curse (Mia Sorvino, anyone?) but I got the impression we'll see a lot more of Nyong'o. She seemed like she was born to be there, dancing with Pharell and getting a hug from Liza Minelli on her walk to the stage. Could we see a black actress grab the attention of moviegoers like Jennifer Lawrence or Julia Roberts before her? I hope directors, writers, and producers are thinking of projects for her right now.

Nyong'o's speech was the best of the night, graceful and humble. In fact, there were a lot of good speeches, and nobody got played off, even when they went way over time. Jared Leto, looking like a Christ as a waiter, managed to give his mother heartfelt thanks, referenced the tumult in Ukraine and Venezuela, recognized the millions dead of AIDS, and gave his rock band a plug. Cate Blanchett did go there, thanking Woody Allen, and Matthew McConaughey gave a three-minute mini-performance, describing how his father is dancing in his underwear in heaven, and then ending with a bizarre spiel of how himself in ten years is his own hero. Cuaron had the best unintentional laugh when he thanked the "wise guys" of Warner Brothers.

Gravity picked up seven awards, most below the line, as expected. The winner of Best Picture was still a big question right up to the moment the envelope opened, as 12 Years a Slave had only won two awards thus far: Nyong'o and screenwriter John Ridley. But as many predicted, 12 Years pulled it out, because it was a more important film.

Now, for the show. I found it to be long and boring. The hero theme was meaningless, as the clips shown seemed random. DeGeneres had a pretty good monologue, but the comedian who never offends actually seemed to do so to Minelli, calling her a drag queen.

For the rest of the show, DeGeneres just seemed to be winging it. I found the pizza incident tacky. DeGeneres was, I'm sure, trying to show us that those millionaire performers are just regular folks, and would appreciate some chow. But the spectacle of these one-percenters tossing money into a hat (Pharell's hat) was disturbing. It's nice that Harvey Weinstein kicked in $200, but at the same time, it seemed like it was just rubbing it in that they're rich and we're not. At least Ellen did give the delivery guy a $1,000 tip.

The other big moment was the selfie that Ellen took with many of the front-row spectators. It's a kind of fascinating snapshot, as it has some very big stars, Kevin Spacey with a goofy look on his face, and a young black man in front who years from now will mystify those who look at it. He is Lupita Nyong'o's brother Peter, who seized the opportunity and blocked Angelina Jolie.

Of the musical performances, I did like the Best Song nominees, but why Pink, of all people, to perform "Over the Rainbow?" I suppose this was an attempt to get the young crowd, but Pink seemed a random choice--were Taylor Swift and Katy Perry busy? Pink's voice is okay, but nothing exceptional. If they were looking for someone who has a fantastic voice and has actually been in a movie, that need only look in the audience for one of the presenters--Kristin Chenowith.

The presenters were a mixed bunch, from young stars like Emma Watson to the older and nearly forgotten, like Goldie Hawn. Kim Novak garnered a lot of Internet buzz for her incoherent appearance and atrocious plastic surgery. Another person getting a lot of comments was John Travolta, who had one job--to introduce Idina Menzel. Instead he introduced "Adela Dazeem," which inspired someone to create a web site that will Travolta-ize your own name.

This is the Oscar ceremony in the age of social media, for better or worse.