Thought for the day

March 21, 1999

I watched the Oscars again tonight. They seem more relevant to me now that I live so close to Los Angeles. It's not just the proximity, now that we're near the capital of the entertainment world, we have the option to actually see the movies when they are released instead of a year or two later when they come to video.

The big news (Reuters described it as an "upset") was that "Shakespeare in Love" defeated "Saving Private Ryan." But jeez, can you blame the Academy? I was so glad to see that a comedy/love-story took top honors away from gore and violence. I generally see movies to enjoy myself, not make myself miserable.

Perhaps you might say, "to see how horrible war is will help us avoid future wars." I'm sure there is some truth to that. Maybe we should force our generals, admirals and political leaders watch movies like Private Ryan and they would think twice before committing our young men and women to battle. Maybe we could go even farther and give them the same "treatment" young Alex received in Kubrik's "A Clockwork Orange." That would prevent them from ever sanctioning violence, but that might have repercussions as dire for the country as it did for poor Alex....

Hey, if you get the chance, go see "Shakespeare in Love." Sure it's all make-believe, but you might just enjoy it as much as I did! And how often does the Academy award honors to a fun movie?