I usually don't care about the Oscars

I need a helping hand, literally. I’m typing with two fingers on my right after having dislocated a finger on Friday (the anecdote to be filed under the weekend sports wrap to come). In my line of work that can make for a frustrating week. However, I’m still at it. I was surprised that Crash took Best Picture, though I do remember thinking after I saw it that it could win if Hollywood wanted to congratulate itself for its mealy mouthed liberal politics. Crash, or as I like to refer to it, JOHN SAYLES’ CITY OF CRASH was a middlebrow, middle class, noir-ish take on post riot race relations in LA, oddly with barely a hair visible from the second largest minority in the city, Asian-Americans (save a brief appearance by Daniel Dae Kim). I did like Don Cheadle’s easy going upwardly mobile detective, Dillon’s (overlauded) performance as an angry white cop, and Terrence Howard’s breathing some life into the tired “I forgot where I came from” African American power broker. I didn’t like the script, where chance ties everyone together all too conveniently. Sandra Bullock’s brief performance promised to be the most interesting, and would have been a good breakout from her lame RomCom same-o same-o’s. Of all the nominees, it was perhaps the least deserving, yet, as it often happens . . . . While I agree, shockingly, with many of the cons and neo-cons whining about liberal Hollywood this morning re: Crash, y’all need to leave Ang Lee and Three 6 Mafia out of it. Lee earned it, since David Cronenberg wasn’t in the running, and though them Memphis boys don’t get much rotation in my CD player, that was a great choice for best song. It isn’t an example of liberal Hollywood run amok so much as it is a recognition that rap music and hip-hop culture is a global force that you will not be able to hide from. Face it kids, your country singers are trying to pop Kris with rappers these days. It was only a matter of time. It’s cool that some Tennessee boys were the first with an Oscar (ironically, before they won a Grammy. Didn’t the same thing happen to Prince?) I think it is quite amusing to see the cons getting all apoplectic about movies dealing with issues with which they clearly feel uncomfortable. Seems to me that, since most of them haven’t seen the movies they’re complaining about, they feel bad about being on the wrong side of the issues discussed.  If the mainstream (don’t kid yourself, the Oscars are nothing if not mainstream), the masses, can feel comfortable with seeing dudes dry humping each other and don’t mind being confronted with questions of race or how we handle terrorism, then the conservatives are really in the minority. In case you’re counting, I’d have voted for Munich.