While most people watch the Oscars to see who wins and then zone
out during acceptance speeches, perhaps the most interesting thing
about the Academy Awards on Sunday night was the very thing which
viewers usually talk over.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” was
predictably the big winner, coming away with 11 awards. Among other
winners were “Mystic River,” “Master and
Commander: The Far Side of the World” and … middle school.
The films won two awards each, and two people expressed thanks for
events occurring during the golden age of puberty.
“I wrote it in a note to you in the eighth grade, and now
I want to say it to you in front of a billion people: I love
you,” said Andrew Stanton to his wife after winning the Oscar
for Best Animated Feature Film for “Finding Nemo.”
After winning for Best Costume Design for “The Lord of the
Rings” Ngila Dickson told a story about giving his eventual
wife two dead rats as a present when he was 13. (Coincidentally,
best actress nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes is 13.)
In a year in when there were more chances to make political
comments than there were Oscars to give to “The Lord of the
Rings,” only Tim Robbins, Sean Penn and Errol Morris made any
mention of politics, and each was relatively mute at that. Robbins,
who won Best Supporting Actor for his role in “˜”˜Mystic
River” referred to abuse victims. Penn, who won the Best
Actor award for his role in the same film, joked about the
government not finding any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Only Morris tried to make a connection between his film,
“The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S.
McNamara,” and national political issues. And even then, he
was vague.
“If people can stop and think and reflect on some of the
ideas in this movie, perhaps some damn good will come of it,”
he said.
Host Billy Crystal did refer to politics and political figures,
but always jokingly. During an opening montage Crystal was inserted
into scenes from the films nominated for Best Picture, an
Oliphaunt, an elephant-like figure from “The Lord of the
Rings,” stomped on Michael Moore as he made his
“fictitious war” speech from last year’s Oscars.
Crystal also joked about Bush’s experience in the Texas
National Guard, and quipped that Donald Rumsfeld’s favorite
movie of last year was “Confessions of a Dangerous
Mind.”
Still, the show seemed to be marked by the lack of politics,
controversy or drama rather than their presence.
Rivaled only by Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson playing off the
event’s strict dress code, Jack Black and Will Ferrell
provided the funniest moment of the evening by singing lyrics to
the music played when speeches go on too long. Both jokes made
light of Academy traditions, not current events of the year.
There were few upsets as far as the awards themselves: Penn and
Robbins’ oscars were predictable and favorites Charlize
Theron and Renee Zellweger won Best Actress and Best Supporting
Actress, respectively.
And by making the Oscar show less dramatic, the absence of
political commentary highlighted the success of “The Lord of
the Rings.”
Impromptu jokes related almost exclusively to J.R.R.
Tolkien’s trilogy.
“It’s now official,” Crystal joked only about
two-thirds of the way through the Awards ceremony. “There is
nobody left in New Zealand left to thank.”
After honoring the trilogy’s conclusion, next year will
have to be different.