Three 6 Mafia 1, Martin Scorsese 0
Many of you who will read this were apart of the 38.9 million people who watched the Academy Awards on Sunday evening the 5th of March to take in a night of Hollywood glitz and glamour. There were many wonderful surprises of the evening, Reese Witherspoon's performance as country music's jewel June Carter Cash winning Best Actress over Felicity Huffman's interpretation of the male transvestite, Bree Osbourne, rebuilding the lost relationship with his son, culminating with Jack Nicholson's presentation of Best Picture of 2005 to indie smash hit "Crash" instead of Best Director Ang Lee's heavily favored "Brokeback Mountain."
However, one award in particular was more shocking than surprising. The presentation of Best Original Song to the Memphis based rap group Three 6 Mafia for their creation of the song "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" for the film "Hustle & Flow," which was preformed on stage in front of millions with dancing pimps and prostitutes. Which raises the question, what is the Academy really looking for when deciding the receipitants of theses prestigious awards? It is that one highly emotional song that can sum up the entire film into three and a half minutes of music, or is it the underdog that if victorious would be considered ground-breaking and progressive? Apparently no one will really know the answer, but lets get one thing straight. This award show was developed by the Academy to recognize excellence in movie making through time. Now don't get me wrong Three 6 Mafia did do a wonderful job at getting that emotional tone of the film into written words, but you have got to look at the rest of the nominees in this category to decide if they really deserved the award.
This year there were only three songs nominated for Best Original Song; Dolly Parton's "Travlin' Thru" for the indie film "Transamerica," Kathleen York's "In The Deep" for Best Picture "Crash" and Three 6 Mafia's "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp." With this Oscar year being the year of first time nominees (Reese Witherspoon, Philip Seymour Hoffman, George Clooney, Rachel Weisz, etc.), only one nominee in this category has ever been nominated for an Academy Award previously. Dolly Parton has been on the entertainment circuit for the past three decades and is considered one of the most famous stars of all time. She has been nominated for one other Oscar in 1980 for penning the cover song for the comedy "9 to 5," which she lost to Michael Gore for writing the cover song to the drama school hit "Fame." During her reign as the queen of country music, she has stretched her wings into the field of visual entertainment by becoming a television and film actress as well. For all of her achievements in this visual medium she has been nominated for 16 awards including two Oscars and one Emmy. With in those 16 nominations she has only won twice. She received a People's Choice Award in 1988 for All Around Female Performer of the Year and the demeaning Razzie Award in 1985. With her obvious ability to entertain millions of people with only her presence on stage (she was the only performer at the 2006 Academy Awards to perform without a stage show) and superior song writing skills, why did she loose the Oscar to three jean clad unknown rappers? Only the executives from Price Waterhouse Coopers (the firm that conducts the voting for the Academy) can answer that question. However, this raises even a greater question. What other moguls of the entertainment industry have gone unrecognized for their outstanding achievement in the industry?
Other than Ms. Dolly Parton one name comes to mind. Martin Scorsese has being creating and directing some of the most influential and popular films of the past six decades, and has gone home empty handed from the Academy Awards every single time he has been nominated. Over the past 47 years since his first directing credit, he has been nominated for five Oscars for Best Director (including "The Aviator" (2004), "Goodfellas" (1990) and "Raging Bull" (1980)) and two Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay ("The Age of Innocence" (1993) and "Goodfellas" (1990)), but that prestigious list dwarfs his career credits. Since his birth in 1942, he has 42 directing credits ("Casino" (1995), "New York, New York" (1977), "Taxi Driver" (1976), etc.), 32 producing credits, 23 acting credits, 12 writing credits, 5 editing credits, and about 120 credits of appearances that have aired on either television or DVD special edition features. It is almost impossible to be apart of modern pop culture and not know of a Martin Scorsese film or image, and not once has he had those 45 seconds of the nation's attention to acknowledge those who have helped him on the way to greatness. Just give the man his Oscar! It is amazing and shocking that the man who has been at the top of his industry for decades, and who is studied in numerous film schools throughout the country has been scrapped every single year at the pinnacle of all award shows in the world, but a relatively unknown rap trio from the south accepted the coveted Oscar wearing jeans and baseball caps.
It is almost sad that in modern society we value the fresh and hip over the experienced and knowledgeable. How we value youth and beauty over age and wisdom. I can only imagine of what a slap in the face it must of felt like to Martin Scorsese to watch Three 6 Mafia accept that 13 ½” golden statue that he has so obviously earned over the years. I am sure that both James Dean and Cary Grant, who were never awarded Best Actor during their Hollywood careers, would of been just as shocked to see the Academy give out the one award that is held on such a high pedestal to a group that didn’t even show the respect to dress appropriately to a black tie affair in which the theme was a return to glamour. Perhaps it is seen as a breath of fresh air to have a unique winner go home with the awards, but I hope that the greatness of the arts are recognized as well.
However, one award in particular was more shocking than surprising. The presentation of Best Original Song to the Memphis based rap group Three 6 Mafia for their creation of the song "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" for the film "Hustle & Flow," which was preformed on stage in front of millions with dancing pimps and prostitutes. Which raises the question, what is the Academy really looking for when deciding the receipitants of theses prestigious awards? It is that one highly emotional song that can sum up the entire film into three and a half minutes of music, or is it the underdog that if victorious would be considered ground-breaking and progressive? Apparently no one will really know the answer, but lets get one thing straight. This award show was developed by the Academy to recognize excellence in movie making through time. Now don't get me wrong Three 6 Mafia did do a wonderful job at getting that emotional tone of the film into written words, but you have got to look at the rest of the nominees in this category to decide if they really deserved the award.
This year there were only three songs nominated for Best Original Song; Dolly Parton's "Travlin' Thru" for the indie film "Transamerica," Kathleen York's "In The Deep" for Best Picture "Crash" and Three 6 Mafia's "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp." With this Oscar year being the year of first time nominees (Reese Witherspoon, Philip Seymour Hoffman, George Clooney, Rachel Weisz, etc.), only one nominee in this category has ever been nominated for an Academy Award previously. Dolly Parton has been on the entertainment circuit for the past three decades and is considered one of the most famous stars of all time. She has been nominated for one other Oscar in 1980 for penning the cover song for the comedy "9 to 5," which she lost to Michael Gore for writing the cover song to the drama school hit "Fame." During her reign as the queen of country music, she has stretched her wings into the field of visual entertainment by becoming a television and film actress as well. For all of her achievements in this visual medium she has been nominated for 16 awards including two Oscars and one Emmy. With in those 16 nominations she has only won twice. She received a People's Choice Award in 1988 for All Around Female Performer of the Year and the demeaning Razzie Award in 1985. With her obvious ability to entertain millions of people with only her presence on stage (she was the only performer at the 2006 Academy Awards to perform without a stage show) and superior song writing skills, why did she loose the Oscar to three jean clad unknown rappers? Only the executives from Price Waterhouse Coopers (the firm that conducts the voting for the Academy) can answer that question. However, this raises even a greater question. What other moguls of the entertainment industry have gone unrecognized for their outstanding achievement in the industry?
Other than Ms. Dolly Parton one name comes to mind. Martin Scorsese has being creating and directing some of the most influential and popular films of the past six decades, and has gone home empty handed from the Academy Awards every single time he has been nominated. Over the past 47 years since his first directing credit, he has been nominated for five Oscars for Best Director (including "The Aviator" (2004), "Goodfellas" (1990) and "Raging Bull" (1980)) and two Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay ("The Age of Innocence" (1993) and "Goodfellas" (1990)), but that prestigious list dwarfs his career credits. Since his birth in 1942, he has 42 directing credits ("Casino" (1995), "New York, New York" (1977), "Taxi Driver" (1976), etc.), 32 producing credits, 23 acting credits, 12 writing credits, 5 editing credits, and about 120 credits of appearances that have aired on either television or DVD special edition features. It is almost impossible to be apart of modern pop culture and not know of a Martin Scorsese film or image, and not once has he had those 45 seconds of the nation's attention to acknowledge those who have helped him on the way to greatness. Just give the man his Oscar! It is amazing and shocking that the man who has been at the top of his industry for decades, and who is studied in numerous film schools throughout the country has been scrapped every single year at the pinnacle of all award shows in the world, but a relatively unknown rap trio from the south accepted the coveted Oscar wearing jeans and baseball caps.
It is almost sad that in modern society we value the fresh and hip over the experienced and knowledgeable. How we value youth and beauty over age and wisdom. I can only imagine of what a slap in the face it must of felt like to Martin Scorsese to watch Three 6 Mafia accept that 13 ½” golden statue that he has so obviously earned over the years. I am sure that both James Dean and Cary Grant, who were never awarded Best Actor during their Hollywood careers, would of been just as shocked to see the Academy give out the one award that is held on such a high pedestal to a group that didn’t even show the respect to dress appropriately to a black tie affair in which the theme was a return to glamour. Perhaps it is seen as a breath of fresh air to have a unique winner go home with the awards, but I hope that the greatness of the arts are recognized as well.
posted by Jessica B. at
3:16 PM
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