Something we can pick up from this year’s Oscars

It’s pretty telling that Europeans won it big in the Oscar Awards: Spanish actor Javier Bardem won Best Supporting Actor for No Country for Old Men, British actress Tilda Swinton was feted Best Supporting Actress for Michael Clayton, French actress Marion Cotillard earned the Best Actress Award for her role as famous singer Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose, and British actor Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for his role in There Will Be Blood. Is Hollywood paying attention?

Of course, I haven’t seen any of the above-mentioned films, as Philippine movie theaters tend to show most relatively smaller-budgeted Oscar winners only after, well, they’ve won Oscars. Some of them do get shown—I think I remember making a mental note to watch No Country for Old Men after seeing the poster in the theater near my home—but they mostly pull a disappearing act after dismal ticket sales. Like many local indie flicks.

Speaking of indie flicks, while my best friend and I were watching Endo, three women sneaked into the theater in the middle of the film and sat behind us. They were breathless—apparently, they had rushed to the nearest seat—but not enough not to whisper on about the popcorn, their drinks, etc. When they were good and settled, and their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, the three of them suddenly became quiet.

I was about to believe that, like me, they’d been immediately arrested by the onscreen drama when one of the woman whispered loudly, “What are we watching again? I thought we were watching Richard (Gutierrez)? Why isn’t this Richard?”

Another hissed, “This is Endo! I was surprised you got tickets for Endo, when we had agreed to watch My Best Friend’s Girlfriend but I didn’t say anything.”

“Did I buy tickets for Endo?” was the whispered meek reply.

The shuffling of popcorn bags, the sound of ice swirling in liquid in plastic cups, and a woman clearing her throat.

“I want to see Richard,” said the first woman to speak up.

“But we are already watching Endo,” replied the woman who bought their tickets. Incidentally, the tickets to Endo were buy one, take one—a Valentine promo.

“We should transfer!” said the woman who didn’t say anything as their friend bought the tickets.

“How?” said the meek one.

“Let’s tell the security guard,” suggested the one who had wanted to see Richard (who I think didn’t inherit his dad’s acting chops, by the way).

The shuffling of popcorn bags, the sound of ice swirling in liquid in plastic cups, and the sound of movie theater seats snapping shut.

They left, and they didn’t come back. I hope they enjoyed My Best Friend’s Girlfriend as much as I enjoyed Endo.

Somebody I knew from college wrote in his blog that for television and movies, we aren’t consumers, but end products. This is a good way to put what I’ve been thinking all along—that mass media has a big role in shaping how people think; it’s not pandering to viewers’ tastes, it’s shaping it. Generally speaking, if our current tastes are any reflection, the future’s looking a bit dark.

Still, I always like keeping my hopes up. The 2008 Oscars puts a spotlight on possibilities. None of the winners are A-list stars. Their films didn’t make it Hollywood-big in the box office. They didn’t have big PR mills doing the publicity for them. But last night (yesterday morning for us, actually), we were given a glimmer of what we should expect.

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