The Oscars are this weekend and I like many people have watched for years and years. When I was a kid and had more time, I used to be obsessed with just the nominations. I’d monitor the odds for the nominations and hold my breath as if it were my life or reputation on the line during the nominations announcement.
Back in those days, our local video store would hold a contest for a free video rental if you named all of the correct winners for the major Oscar categories. I only won one year and that was I think the most predictable year of 1995 when Tom Hanks won for Forrest Gump. I don’t think there has ever been a year since when the winners were so predictable.
But what is usually predictable about the Oscars is that unlike the Emmys or Golden Globes, there are no separate categories for musicals or comedies. Therefore, the nominees tend to lean on the dramatic side. And if you want to go even further, actors who play crazy bad guys also tend to have an edge.
I watched The Batman and I thought the best performance was from Robert Pattinson. His performance was restrained. His voice was quiet. He just seemed to always be in a smoldering mood whenever he was on screen. But that’s how good guys who are going through things do. They’re not going to scream and enunciate syllables and be all loud and flamboyant like a Joker or Riddler. He takes a moment to himself and he gets on it with. I found it very surprising that everyone was pouring so much praise onto Paul Dano’s Riddler. I thought it was too much like a caricature.
But I get it. The bad guys who gesticulate, talk crazily, and better yet, look plain crazy, tend to win over the critics with their great performances. Because it must take a lot for a normal person to act crazy. Or even more frightening, for a good person to act like an evil one. And let’s face it, stories tend to be made for characters who have a bad side. We can go deeper with the dark stuff. And apparently for the actors who play the baddie, they always say how “fun” it is to play the bad guy.
And I’m all for it. I love gangster movies. Heat is the best movie ever made. But lately, maybe it’s just the times we’re living in, but I don’t want to see movies that glorify and amplify the bad guys. I don’t find myself watching lot of intense dramas anymore. I especially don’t want to see movies or shows where the main character is a horrible person.
So when I see commercials for shows like Joe versus Carole, The Dropout, Super Pumped, WeCrashed, The Thing About Pam, House of Gucci, and so on and so forth, I just want to tune out. Most of these people should just go straight to jail or go into exile. They’re not interesting characters I want to see a whole movie or series be made of. I’d much rather see a movie about how their victims put them behind bars.
I want more of The Avengers. The Batman. Whatever The Rock or Tom Hanks is in. I want more stories about good triumphing over evil and not stories that delve into the reasons behind the criminal intent. Sometimes I don’t care to know the human side of the baddie. Just go to jail and go away.
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