Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Oscar night (of all times)

I started writing a post about the Oscars (the winners and such), but it just seems like old news now. I will share though, that I was quite affected by Monday night's telecast.

Since I was a little girl I have been utterly, utterly fascinated with the Oscars, and the movie industry in general. It's mostly my Dad's fault. He is a BIG movie buff, and he brought me up on a steady diet of musicals, Barbra Streisand and the occasional classic (The Godfather etc).
What you've gotta understand, dear reader (particularly any of you born after 1980), is that when I was growing up, there were only three TV channels for a very long time, and video players didn't really arrive until I was a tween. So on a rainy Saturday afternoon, we could either go to the movies or watch what was on TV (Of course once videos came out, Dad bought musicals, Barbra Streisand and the occasional classic, so I still had to make do). But the thing is, all these movies were AWESOME! Because we didn't know any better. We couldn't log onto IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes to see what other people thought or wait for Jim to post his review on Facebook ;)
Simpler times?

But despite the apparent lack of good cinematic fare, I did manage to become a bit of a buff myself (to be fair to my poor dad, he did have good taste in movies, and he did introduce me to some good ones, as well as the musicals, Barbra Streisand and the occasional classic, I just wanted to tease him a little).

So Oscar night was always a BIG DEAL. We maintained media silence for most of the afternoon, and if anyone dared tell Dad who had won something, look out! Of course, I picked up this attitude after a while, too. We'd write out our predictions and tick them off as each award was given out, and for 3 or so hours felt like we were part of it all. I must admit I had gone off it all in the past few years: perhaps too much god-thanking, and there were a few awards that seemed set up or a little bit political.

**Confession Time**
For a very long time I wanted to win an Oscar. I went through a quite serious acting phase, discovered I probably wasn't as great at it as some of the others in my drama class/group. Then I thought I'd maybe direct or even edit. Working in a cinema probably didn't do anything to dampen those thoughts.

So, back to the telecast. As I've mentioned before, I haven't done a lot of crying about Sam. In fact, I've found it quite difficult at times. But not on Monday night. I don't know what it was (and no, it wasn't hormones), but there were many times that things happening in the show made me cry. Some of it was 'I wish that was me', and some of it was Samuel-related:
  • When they screened the 'In Memoriam' part (all the movie types who had died during the past year), I thought of Samuel. No surprises there.
  • When Sandra Bullock thanked all the mums. I wonder how many other mums reacted to that?
  • Every time a good-looking young man came onstage, I thought about how that could have been Sam one day.
Et Cetera. Funny huh? Something just pushed my buttons. I guess in a way it's good that I did that because I had a chance to do some 'emoting'.

Somewhere around here, I have a photo of me with an Oscar. If I can find it I'll post it. It's kinda cute. In the meantime, here's Oscar.

4 comments:

  1. I remember your t-shirt.... "almost famous".

    hehe.

    I think its a mother thing. Anything to do with kids now, I cry. On the biggest loser, when they get visits from their kids, I cry. Watching the winter olympics, when lydia ly-howeveryousepllhername won, and was crying, I cried. The movie "the time travellers wife", when he dies, I BAWLED. (I blame being 39 weeks preggers for that one, it wasn't even that great a movie, although nude eric bana eased the pain)

    and I NEVER cry. but since being a mum, its weepy city!

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  2. Just so I don't take ALL the blame for Mel's obsession with movies, I need to add that it really goes way back to her Nana & Poppa (my parents). There wasn't TV, and so one of the only outlets was to go to the movies (we called them the 'flicks', or the 'pictures'
    And years ago when we had both seen that movie "In and Out", she said to me, "you know Dad that men who like Barbra Streisand are usually gay". My reply was that if she could live with people thinking that, then so could I!! I have watched all but one Oscars ceremony for the last 50 years, so I guess that makes me an "Oscars Tragic".
    Still, even with all the crap that abounds in some movies these days, they still enthrall in their own way, and Mel has turned out pretty well in spite of it all.

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  3. Deb, I know what you mean. Motherhood (even without the tragedy) is a tear-wrenching endeavour! (I won't tell anyone you cried...)

    Dad, despite the 'tone' of my post, I actually do appreciate the start I got. Thanks.
    xx
    Oh, and which one didn't you watch?

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  4. The whole thing was meant 'tongue in cheek', but the movies thing was a real treat as a kid. Can't quite remember which one, but we must have been away, 'cause as you know, nothing used to sway me from watching them.

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