Propagating for the Left:
The 2006 Academy Awards

"You think you know who you are? You have no idea..."

-Officer Ryan (Crash)

There has been a lot made of this years five nominated films for best picture, and their political leanings. Two of the films (Brokeback Mountain and Capote) have central gay characters and themes, one of which takes a strong opposition to the death penalty. Another film (Munich) addresses the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and all acts of terror, perhaps claming that revenge is not the way to counter terrorism. Racism should not be a matter of politics but it certainly has become prominent in this years Oscar race, due to a little film called Crash. Finally, Good Night, and Good Luck. points unabashed fingers at the United States media in a time of shallow news coverage.

I believe the fact that these films made the Best Picture shortlist does not prove anything, one way or another. If you have seen any of these five films, you would realize that they are great films, with deep, rich, and conflicted characters that are weary of any political ideology. It seems like most of the people who have panned the five films, have either, not seen the films (due to their preconceptions), or they have viewed and reviewed them with a prejudice; they have examined them through the lens they wish to examine them with--instead of through an unbiased eye.

Here is a prime example. Perhaps the hottest button film of the lot has been Stephen Spielberg’s Munich. It has been criticized for sympathizing too heavily with, either, the Israeli's or the Palestinian’s; and it has also been criticized for taking too balanced a position. It seems that if Munich can contain all of these points of view, the truth--if there is a singular truth--must be slanted by the eyes of the beholder.

Sure, there were many other good, non-political films this past year, but I dare you to find me five other ones deserving of a BEST PICTURE nomination! It is completely outrageous to say that the Academy put these five films in the Best Picture slots because they were feeding all of their left leaning ideals. No. I believe they felt they were the best-made movies of the year.

It is simply silly to downplay the greatness of this year’s Best Picture films, just because they have not been huge box office successes. I certainly have wished that the Academy would choose films based on their quality, instead of being popular first, and good second.

Some conservative writers/blogers/pundits/etc. have suggested other films, non-political films, to take the place of the five ‘polarizing’ films that made the shortlist; this, in order to lift ‘the disconnect’ between what the Academy deems great, and what the public does. Here are a few examples (but the problem with this idea becomes readily apparent with most of the 'replacement' films).

Cinderella Man – $61.5 million
A History of Violence – $31.5 million
King Kong – $50 million
Match Point - $18.5 million
Pride & Prejudice - $38 million
The Squid and the Whale - $7 million
Walk the Line - $22 million
Memoirs of a Geisha - $56 million

Now, okay. The argument is that nobody (relatively speaking) saw the best picture nominees; the reason being that the films are “leftist”. What about this list of alternative, un-political selections? With the exception of the epics: King Kong, Cinderella Man, and Memoirs of a Geisha (which was not a good film), what planet are you from if you think these films have been seen by a lot of the public and grossed a lot of money? And they do not contain “liberal” ideals? (A History of Violence, Cinderella Man--films suggested by conservatives wanting a change...not me.) Again, it comes back to the way in which each individual views any particular film. And some of the films just did not quite live up to expectations. Period.

It is time, in many ways, that we move on. Maybe there are some deserving films not nominated. But deserving films always get left off. That is just the way it goes. If the five films up for Best Picture were nominated for anything other than their achievements as artistic expressions, I just do not buy it. If a love story about two gay cowboys was made in attempt to fill some political agenda, it was lost on me. If people in this country are still weary of seeing this film, because they are morally stuck in the past (which should not hold the Academy back from recognizing the film if they believe it to be great cinema) that is their fault for missing out on something a lot of people consider to be the best picture of the year (I happen not to be one of them). Why can that not be all there is to it? We like the movie, we vote for it. I tend to believe that is merely what the Academy does. I find it hard to believe that, when marking their ballots, Academy voters say to themselves, “I would vote for King Kong, but there was just not enough politics in that film. I think I’ll vote for Good Night, and Good Luck. instead. That film was filled with political innuendo.”

I would like to end this with one final note. Perhaps there are a lot of politically charged films up for awards this year. But we live in a politically charged time. We are in need of a little political debate. And, despite what some might say, rather than take any particular side, the best picture films are inquisitive. They do not have definitive answers, but they ask important questions; questions that are not being asked by anyone else right now. We have got to ask these tough questions, to make sure we are doing the right things, as individuals and as a nation. In closing, I turn to the words of Edward R. Murrow:

We must not confuse descent from disloyalty...We will not walk in fear, one of another, we will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason. If we dig deep into our history and our doctrine, we will remember we are not descendant from fearful men. Not from men who dared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were for the moment unpopular. We proclaim ourselves as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom where ever it still exists in the world. But we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home...

Good night, and good luck...