Oscar awards make me sick.

[MADem]

23. Sure they do.

And they are mentioned across a wider variety of "media" than Oscar winners are. It helps if someone from the "home country" wins one, certainly--if an American wins, the US papers go crazy, if a Brit wins, the UK papers go nuts, if an Afghan won, they'd be dancing in Kabul--that's just the way it works.

The Oscars are a big deal for the American film industry. It might not be curing cancer, but it does employ a shitload of people--and not just in USA, either. AND....it brings amusement to people, both in overpriced theaters, and for a buck/buck fifty at a REDBOX.

You'll see clips of Oscar winners on the entertainment shows for the next few days, a little bit on the news tomorrow (and that will be that), and you'll see stories in the newspapers (the stupider the paper, the more column inches) and the glossy magazines you see at the grocery check out.

I doubt you'll see any mention of Oscar winners in Scientific American, Cosmos, or International Health News or any of the industrial/technical journals that are published all over the world. But Nobel Prize winners? Sure. They'll get plenty of coverage, and people who understand their achievements and work in those fields will read up on what they did.

I'll bet if the Nobels could get an audience, the networks would air them--it's not like they're averse to profit. But no one is going to sit through those Nobel awards ceremonies. They're in ten different languages, and dull as old dishwater. You would have to PAY me, frankly--tell me who won, if there's a dramatic clip, slap it up on YOUTUBE, pass around the link, and leave it at that.

It has nothing to do with "good works," it has to do with entertainment.

I thought one of entertainment's best Democrats did a fantastic job as host of this year's awards. He kept it moving even though there was a lot to slog through, and it was fun.

I like a little fun--and most people I know like a little fun, too. I don't think it's a sin, really.