Oscar Time

Originally, the Oscars were a means to keep young stars, actors and actresses, under control by the movie industry.  You might call the Oscar the lollipop that moms and pops give to their kids as reward for good behavior.  Give the kid a piece of candy to shut him up or at best pacify him for a while. So it is with Oscar.  Since in the early days, stars were not paid as well as today's stars, the Oscars were designed to manipulate and control the young artists in the industry.

I read that somewhere...not making it up.

Anyway, this Sunday night, another generation will wait in anticipation to see if their peers awarded them the coveted prize for playacting, and scene stealing in a flick, that piece of celluloid designed to hold audiences fast for two to three hours in a darkened theatre.

I overcame the starstruck status years ago when I finally lived in the Hollywood area and visited all the studios to learn some of the secrets that are shared to the many visitors who trek through lala land.

Children grow up learning how to play act early in life.  In first grade, I played two different roles in our class. I was at one time one of the three step sisters of Cinderella as Joyce Donahue was selected to play the role of the lead, and Norma Tinker, Dorothy Vetter, and I were the stepsisters and step mother somehow or other.  Norma and I ended up as co partners in editor ship of the high school newspaper..I also played the part of the Wind when I had to carry a basket across the room in another short play.  I always relate to the wind ever since Miss Armstrong chose me to play that part.

So early in life, we learn how to be someone other than ourselves.

Turning pro to become big time movie actors and actresses is something that only the very photogenic can do well.  There was a time when only the very beautiful in face and figure could possibly be considered for a starring role, but for comedy and horror films, the ugly and the deformed could find  a place to shine in Hollywood flicks.

Those days have disappeared.  Today, ordinary can become star fodder as there are not many truly beautiful faces performing in Hollywood any longer.  Gone are the Rhonda Flemings, the Elizabeth Taylors, the Ingrid Bergmans, the Arlene Dahl's...now we have wannabe's and they will all hate me because I do not find the current crop including Cate Blanchette, Sandra Bullock, and even Emma Thompson as beauties...pretty maybe, attractive, but not Hollywood beauty perfect as those who starred int he 40's.  Bette Davis was never a beauty nor was Barbara Stanwyck but they did find work and acceptance for their unusual looks that seemed to captivate.

As for acting capabilities...nobody ever really cares...that is for  the broadway stage where the voice and performance does matter.  The huge screen is for closeups and for physical appearances, not for delivery or for great acting talents...does anyone care whether Robert Redford could act, or Paul Newman, or Clark Gable?  Not on your life...So  it is with young Leonardo diCaprio...he can emote all he wants, but he is really wanted just to be another pretty face that some young girls will adore so that they can spend their bucks on his face looming across the screen...ditto with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon...Acting...none of them know how to do it such as Lawrence Olivier, Richard Burton, and a host of other British who were on stage before hitting the big screen.

None of them were eye candy though...but they could at least dramatize a bit.

So what difference does the Oscar make?  Only to those who sit in that audience and think falsely to themselves that this means that they are liked and loved in the industry...Sally Fields shouting, You like me, you like me...to an audience who just managed to find her transference from Flying Nun on t.v. to bona fide actress of some merit on big screen.  Wonder who those voters were who decided that...anyway, that is Hollywood's perception...to win means that you are liked...

Guess Matthew McConahey is most liked this year because for sure he is getting all the attention and votes in Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards so expect that he will get Oscar too.

And he is one who isn't the pretty boy type so that is probably why he will join the ranks of another who did get it being ugly as sin...remember Jack Palance doing pushups for his win?

Yes, ugly pays now and then...So no matter what, it is a night of revelry for the stars who play make believe, living their lives as though they were someone else.

Wonder why I did not get an award for being the Wind?  Just a gentle breeze instead of a tornado or hurricane I guess.  I was too light when crossing that stage...

 I always take comfort in knowing that songs were written then...The Wayward Wind, They call the Wind Mariah...Windsong perfume even...can't get you out of my mind...A Gentle little breeze...etc.etc.  forget bag of wind, cutting wind, dumb little fart!  Oh well, nothing like a good wind now and then...and so that ended my career as an actress on stage...

yet I was once tagged as Miss Photogenic in California...it all depends on the photographer...not the subject...remember that folks...it is the person behind the camera who determines the end result of a photo.

So why don't cameramen get credit for their work in Hollywood?  Thus, endeth this exercise in today's purging my thoughts on paper.