Awards Season...

It’s awards season! WOOHOO! Time to roll out the red carpets and talk about who’s wearing whom (good question for Ed Gein, not celebrities) because these rich and famous celebrities need more attention than they already get. It’s the season of awarding art for its artistic value... right? Golden Globes, Grammys, American Music Awards, Oscars, BAFTA Awards (what on Earth is a BAFTA?!). All of these awards shows are worth watching for a handful of reasons: 

1) To make fun of the ridiculous outfits that pass as ‘fashion’

2) To revel in the awkwardness of acceptance speeches and hope that the ‘play off’ music starts sooner and sooner each time

3) To see which celebrities are on drugs

4) Metallica might perform accompanied by an Asian piano god... yea

So, enough about the shows themselves because that’s not really what this is about. Just like the televised programs, this is about the actual awards (get the sarcasm there?) and how awarding art is futile. First off, real artists shouldn’t care about the awards; they should just care about money so they can afford to not work a real job leaving them able to focus on their art. Secondly, art is a very personal thing so giving some nameless, faceless group the right to tell me what is good art and what isn’t is offensive. I find abstract ‘art’ to not be very artful but many smarter, more cultured connoisseurs would beg to differ. If art speaks to you, it’s good art. There’s no award for that.

Thirdly (and most importantly) these award shows award ‘art‘ brought to us by the ENTERTAINMENT industry. This conglomerates three opposing ideas:  art, entertainment, and industry (making money). Walking the line between all that is the challenge that faces today’s producers, writers, directors, musicians, actors, etc. So shouldn’t the awards shows celebrate the movies, songs, albums, books, etc. that showcase the perfect marriage of all three? Of course they should! 

So why do BORING movies and ANNOYING songs win awards in the ENTERTAINMENT industry? Because it’s not about the awards. Even the actual broadcasts are not about the awards. I watched the Grammys and they went at least 30 minutes without presenting an award. These things are about celebrities talking about how amazing other celebrities are and we watch them because our culture is built upon celebrity worship.

I need to go fill out my Oscar ballot, so that’s it for now...