8 Sometimes there’s nothing more boring than an awards show. The glitzy parade of who’s the most talented, who’s the prettiest, who’s neither but is well-connected, or who has the greatest marketing budget. Then there’s the awkward performance of bad jokes, the long list of people to acknowledge, the hours of announcing winners, and the number of commercial breaks that makes it seem like there are more advertisers than talent. Then there’s also the fact that awards shows can make one feel like the film and entertainment industries — and we as viewers, in turn — haven’t matured past high school, when (in the U.S.) graduating seniors are given superlatives such as class clown, biggest flirt, and most likely to succeed. Often, as viewers, you’re only watching an awards show for that one moment that will shake you out of your utter boredom, and that one moment is usually when your favorite actress or director or multi-hyphenate talent wins or loses. But awards shows are more than just overblown dog and pony shows. Awards shows are often battlefields for art, politics, and culture, wherein the changing of the guard and the changing ideas in society are on full view, and it is this point that the writer Michael Schulman illustrates in his recent book Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears (608 pgs., Harper, 2023, $40), a doorstopper of the most satisfying conflicts and dramas in the history of the Academy Awards. Schulman is a New York City-based writer who focuses on arts and culture. He’s been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 2006, and his byline appears in several other noteworthy publications. His first book was the best-selling Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep, a biography of the American actress who has garnered 21 Academy Award nominations. In Oscar Wars, Schulman delves right to the core of why awards shows, but the Oscars specifically, hold so much cultural significance. On one hand, it comes down to a societal fascination with power. Who has power? Who is losing it? Who is powerless? Then there’s also that awards shows like the Oscars embody humankind’s interest in competition. The Oscars are rife with conflict, and as Schulman points out, that conflict is not always between talent and craftspeople, but changing ideas about storytelling: “An aesthetic sea change that sets the tone for a decade might be buried in the screenplay nominations”, writes Schulman. “A political upheaval might be a whisper one year, a roar the next. Like Hollywood’s greatest sagas — Star Wars, The Godfather — the Oscars often play out as a drama of generational conflict, as a new cohort shows up to displace the old.” Oscar Wars shows Schulman’s adept skill in chronicling and synthesizing the shifting cultural tides as exemplified through the history of the Academy Awards. Each chapter looks at a distinct moment of importance in the Academy’s nine-decade-long run, from the very first ceremony held in May 1929 to the present moment, and delves into the backstory and impact on each of these “turning points” in Oscars history and in culture with a capital “C.” The book partly argues that the Oscars are often the site of cultural and ideological conflicts between businessmen, talent, politicians, working people, between races and genders, and it’s interesting how the formation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the origins of the Academy Awards ceremony reflect Schulman’s point. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio head Louis B. Mayer played a foundational role in the development of the organization. The feelgood version of the Academy’s origins goes something like this. Mayer wanted to build harmony between the film industry’s business executives and its labor unions. At the same time, the rest of the United States looked at Hollywood as a glitzed-up den of iniquity, and the creation of the Academy came as a balm to smooth over that public image and recognize the industry’s morally upstanding talent. Another key figure at the inaugural awards ceremony was the actress Mary Pickford, who took it upon herself to clean up Hollywood’s image despite her adulterous personal dealings with Douglas Fairbanks. Throughout each of the book’s chapters, a whole cast of major and minor characters appear, and it’s here that that the reader can see Schulman’s storyteller flair in characterization and dramatic irony. Oscar Wars presents the “turning points” that are equally as dynamic, dramatic, and well-researched as the first. There’s 1942, when Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane was snubbed. There’s the 1950s, when screenwriters tried to fight the Hollywood blacklist. There’s 1989, when the awards show bombed so badly that it ruined the show producer Allan Carr’s career. Schulman addresses the more contemporary blunders around race and the Academy’s efforts toward diversity and inclusion, which are compellingly detailed in the chapter on the #OscarsSoWhite campaign, and the infamous 2017 Oscars when actress Faye Dunaway incorrectly stated the critic’s darling La La Land as Best Picture instead of the actual winner, Moonlight. As Schulman notes, “The Oscars are a battlefield where cultural forces collide and where the victors aren’t always as clear as the names drawn from the envelopes.” Oscar Wars offers a wide depth of material for the Hollywood aficionado and drama addict to dig into. Schulman has pinpointed moments that feel unexpected, farcical, and occasionally even tragic. Since their inception the Academy Awards have not only celebrated and upheld the talent and craftsmen of award-winning films but have also highlighted conflicts and divisions in society. Oscar Wars has perhaps also reached the essence of why viewers get such a thrill when they hear: “And the Oscar goes to…” Editor’s note: This is one of the many articles that VideoAge has devoted to the Oscars over the years. Examples include The Academy and The Awards (January 2023) and The Oscars Win Big in LATAM. A Love Affair With Showbiz (May 2014). Arts and culture critic Michael Schulman explores key moments from the history of the Academy Awards and discusses how they came to be and their impact on society. Drama at The Oscars: New Book Explores The Clash of Talent and Ideas at Awards Shows September 2023 Book Review By Luis Polanco Awards shows can make one feel like the lm and entertainment industries — and we as viewers — haven’t matured past high school.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI4OTA5