We find ourselves here again. This place, this day. I always hate the day after the Oscars. There's this lull in the awards world, this quiet, this calmness that at first seems peaceful, especially after three months of non-stop awards coverage. But then it gets really quiet. Until Emmy season heats up, it is just awful. Then Cannes and the summer blockbuster season roll around, and then the fall festivals, critics awards, guild awards, and Oscars again. I don't want to linger on the Green Book stuff. All I can say is that the industry gave a huge middle finger to the purist online liberals who will stop at nothing until the exact film they want wins. Those folks lost, they lost their minds, and they are so tied up in a film they didn't like, that they can't even see the light that came out of this year's Oscars. And there was so much light, so much positive energy, so much positive change. The ceremony was one of the best in years. The no-host idea might not have been planned, but it might be just the perfect solution. With the exception of the Queen opening, almost everything else was about celebrating film and artists. The only deviations from awards and original song performances were the In Memoriam segment, and the inside look at the Academy Museum. That was it. And they both felt like a nice continuation of the celebration. Other than that it was about celebrating film, and no matter what you think of Green Book there was a lot to celebrate.
Spike Lee is finally an Oscar winner. Ruth Carter is finally an Oscar winner, and she and her production design counterparts made incredible history last night. All three shorts, and Best Documentary Feature had female filmmakers on the stage, and with Bao and Free Solo, Asian-American filmmakers as well. Regina King's win was fantastic, and while I hate that Glenn Close is still Oscar-less, I am so thrilled for the magnificent Olivia Colman, whose wonderful speech stole the show. I have even gotten over Bohemian Rhapsody winning Film Editing (seriously though, I don't get it), because everything else was great.
This was a great night for film. I think this year particularly, we let the hatred, and the divisiveness of our world encompass our art. We let it permeate into the Oscar race, and to be honest, there were days where the constant barrage of negativity online really made me wonder whether I wanted to keep doing this blog, keep covering these awards. If it makes you sick to your stomach, or just plain miserable, why keep doing it? Last night reminded me of why I love doing this. It's not my regular job. I am full-time librarian, and this is my release, my hobby at the end of a long day or week. I will keeping doing this, whether anyone out there cares or not. I will do it because I enjoy it and I love film. I just need to keep in mind next year to not let the negativity get to me. Last night, the Academy surely didn't. I need to follow their example.
On July 12, 2009, I launched The Awards Psychic. I have gone back to those early years and cringed at some of the content I put up. But I will never take it down. It is a reminder of how far I have come from an eager college kid to someone who hopefully, has learned the right balance to make it all work. That means that this coming July 12th, I will have been writing this blog for a decade. I cannot believe it has been ten years. So much has changed in my life, and yet despite it all, this has been the one constant. This summer, to celebrate, I will be working on my Top 100 Films and Top 100 Television Shows of July 12, 2009 - July 12, 2019. This will be a revisionist history in many cases, or an affirmation in others, but it will hopefully serve as a nice celebration and reminder of this wild, wonderful, and transformative decade in American culture, and in my personal life. Before I leave another Oscar season, I have to, as I always do, say thank you. Thank you for reading this blog, thank you for loving film, and I personally cannot wait to join all of you on this journey again. To quote my favorite 2019 film's director, the great Spike Lee, as we move forward, let's choose love not hate, in all aspects of our lives, and let's remember that our passion is driven by love. Thank you again, for everything.
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