Sweeney is to Brokeback Mountain as Pajama Game is to Crash- Page 2

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:17am

I felt that by giving "Crash" the Best Picture Oscar, Hollywood was saying that, while you can't call a black man a "N*gg*r", you can still call a gay man a "Faggot"...

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:21am

Right, Brokeback didn't win not because of bad acting and crappy writing, but because of homophobia.

Every reviewer in fact who disliked the movie had to tiptoe around that. "Now, I have nothing against gay people, but..." It was ridiculous. It was like by thinking it was a bad movie, you were automatically labelled a homophobe.

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:23am

I don't get the Jamie Foxx/Adrian Brody thing.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:24am

Lockport Illinois was deleted, but this is not?

[MOXIEINTHECITY]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:26am

I think Crash's win had more to do with the fact that, in a addition to being a great film, it had a large and well respected/well-known ensemble cast that coul campaign for it. Half the people who vote for those things haven't even seen the movies nominated, but they probably worked with one of the cast members. Dillon, Bullock, Cheadle, Howard, Phillipe - all people with high visiblity amongst their peers and the press.

Brokeback had actors from mostly teen related films, a WB series and films that no one saw. (Dawson's Creek, Princess Diaries, Moonlight Mil/Bubble Boy, A Knight's Tale/10 Things I Hate About You.)

I believe directors vote for directors, actors vote for actors, but everyone votes for best picture. Ang Lee's win was probably more accurate because it came from his peers.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:27am

If Crash lost to Brokeback, people would claim it was because of racism and the gay agenda.

There will never be 100% satisfaction with the outcome of an awards show.

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:28am

SporkGoddess,

"...bad acting and crappy writing..."

Do you HAVE any TASTE!?

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:31am

If Brokeback is good taste, then I don't want it.

Look, think it was a good movie all you want. Everyone's entitled to an opinion. But to claim that the ONLY reason people could possibly not have wanted it for Best Picture is because of homophobia, and no other factors which could make people dislike a movie, is ridiculous.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:34am

I felt that by giving "Crash" the Best Picture Oscar, Hollywood was saying that, while you can't call a black man a "N*gg*r", you can still call a gay man a "Faggot"...

Please explain this statement!

[Ghosthost999]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:36am

But on the other side of the coin, if you didnt like Crash you were labeled a racist. I despised Crash from day one and I got called racist many times for not liking it.
Updated On: 6/16/06 at 12:36 AM

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:38am

Ghosthost999: I didn't see Crash, but I completely understand and emphathize with what you're talking about. Well, that's the PC age for ya...

[Theatreboy49]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 12:42am

Bag analogy. I hate always bringing this up but Crash deserved to beat the hell outta brokeback mountain which really was not a good movie at all. Sweeney was brilliant ans shoulda beat pajama game but dont ever compare it to brokeback mountain not john doyles sweeney. now perhaps the burton depp sweeney thats another story.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:05am

Ohk, don't really want to argue either way (I liked both movies), but it is kind of remarkable to me how Crash can win at the Oscars but not even be nominated at most of the other awards shows, including the Golden Globes which has two separate categories for movies.

Sweeney didn't win because apparently the voters didn't like it as much as the critics or the audiences. There was no denying Doyle's or Travis's wins, they were locks from the night the show opened. If the voters really liked the show, Patti would have won, they would have gotten a lighting design nomination (at the very least), and Christian Hoff wouldn't have won.

O well, whether it be Sweeney or Brokeback, we all hold our personal opinions and favorites and no one can really take those away. Not even an Oscar or a Tony.

~Steven

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:05am

Double double, toil and whatever those three Witches say...

~Steven Updated On: 6/16/06 at 01:05 AM

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:28am

What I referring to by my statement, brdlwyr, is the fact that Homosexuals are the one last minority group that you can ridcule and insult in the public media without fear of any sort of recrimination.

You make a film about race relations and you win an award.

Make a film that shows homosexual love without the usual sn*ing of "mainstream" films and, you may get a lot of awards, but you still don't get the big award.

A lot of people theorized that it didn't win because, both men were married and it was glorifying adultery.

Gee, "Bridges of Madison County" was a film about a man and a woman commiting adultery (to be fair, she was committing adultery and he was merely fornicating) and people called that "a beautiful love story".

And that is why I feel that "Crash" winning Best Picture was the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences telling the world that ,while you can't call a black person a "n*gg*er", it is still perfectly fine to call a homosexual a "FAGGOT".

[NYC4Life]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:30am

"I believe directors vote for directors, actors vote for actors, but everyone votes for best picture. Ang Lee's win was probably more accurate because it came from his peers."

That is not all true. It is true for nominations, that the branches vote for the 5 but once the ballot is down to the 5 in each all members vote.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 1:58am

For certain categories, like Best Documentary Feature and all of those other awards people forget (I don't, I love those awards too!), they do only allow certain people to vote. But yes, everyone does vote for Best Picture. But if voters come out and say that they haven't seen one of the nominees, then you know there's a flaw in the voting process.

~Steven

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 2:04am

*This is not Broadway related*

But why do people blame homophobia for Brokeback's lose? Do you not think it's cause it wasn't the best choice? The movie was a lot of sweeping landscapes and intimate scenes. It didn't have a real build up or anything profound to say. I thought Crash was a highly intelligent film. When Sandra Bullock says "You're my only friend" at the end to her maid, I could only thing "Brillnace."

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 2:16am

Homosexuals are the one last minority group that you can ridcule and insult in the public media without fear of any sort of recrimination.

I'm sure every other minority group in America would argue with you; that's completely false.

Updated On: 6/16/06 at 02:16 AM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 2:18am

Well, again, my problem is that many voters didn't even watch Brokeback. I'm not blaming homophobia on this, but doesn't that seem a bit unfair if not everyone has seen the movies nominated (there are only five, all are sent to voters on DVD) and then you're supposed to vote on the best one? Something's definitely wrong somewhere...

Which is a flaw of the Tonys as well. How are people supposed to vote when they haven't seen all of the nominated shows/performances? If the show had a limited run during the summer?

There is no excuse with the Oscars, though.

~Steven

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 2:25am

sondheimboy2 - you read way too much into this. It just isn't as a good of a movie. American Beauty won Best Picture and it faced homosexual themes. And American Beauty is a brillant movie.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 2:38am

Gandhi is to Making Love as...?

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 6:53am

PAH-lease!

Brokeback Mountain had a good director, good acting (although I couldn't understand a thing Heath said), great scenes/setting, but bad story.

And what else does a movie have left? Without a good story, you don't have a movie.

I still don't understand Heath's dramatic pose at the firework scene. One minute he's kicking ass, and the next he's posing in front of burting fireworks?

The question "Have you ever got your ass kicked by a fag?" comes to mind.

[LifeoftheParty227]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 8:45am

Yes, Brokeback's loss was a huge dissapointment and the Academy should be ashamed of themselves. But we have to look on the positive side. We don't know why exactly they didn't reward a 'gay-themed' film, but the buzz that this film has received has been extremely important in our narrow-minded society. The academy isn't ready, fine. They'll just have to take baby steps in this path to social acceptance. Then, one day, maybe a gay-themed movie will actually win. It'll be like Halle Berry winning for 'Monster's Ball'. The speech will be something like this, "This moment is so much bigger than me. This moment is for every closeted person; every gay, lesbian, bi, and transgendered person who now has chance because this closet has been open!" (haha, little joke....) Anyways, I guess 'Brokeback's' nomination was the Hattie McDaniel of this type of film-theme. Let's just hope it isn't too long until Hollywood's money corrupted, socially ignorant, short-sighted views actually reward and create these type of films with cultural significance. I'm not saying to recreate a lot of Brokeback Mountains. Just because a film has gay characters does not categorize it into the same type of movie with the same storyline. Just because a movie has the same theme, doesn't mean it's identical. Forgive me, but a movie with black people in it aren't all the same. Neither is this. We need to shed this misperception fast, save ourselves the time and money, and realize how important this cultural revelation really is.

[James2]

Posted: 6/16/06 at 8:55am

The way I see it, I think Pajama Game won because they found it to be a purely entertaining show, while Sweeney Todd is dark and not pleasing to everybody. When voting, they decided to go with how much of a good time they had, not by how artisitc the show is.