Philosophy Now Forum

Prosthetics have a history of winning 'best actor' awards in Hollywood. Who's willing to bet that Bradly Cooper's fake nose will win the 'best actor' academy award for his horrible acting in 'Maestro'? As an aside, was Leonard Bernstein ever anything but a charismatic celebrity?

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2023 6:30 pm Prosthetics have a history of winning 'best actor' awards in Hollywood. Who's willing to bet that Bradly Cooper's fake nose will win the 'best actor' academy award for his horrible acting in 'Maestro'? As an aside, was Leonard Bernstein ever anything but a charismatic celebrity?

My most reviled Academy Award was Anne Hathaway for supporting actress in Les Miz. I like musicals, and I like Les Miz. Unfortunately, the movie version was horrible, and the worst part was a tone deaf Anne Hathaway trying to look like she was dying while attempting to sing "I Dreamed a Dream". It was so embarrassing that I had to hide my eyes when I saw it in the theater. The Academy loves bad acting. Prosthetics; losing or gaining weight; being so daring as to play a prostitute (in the past, see Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield 8 (how daring!).

I like some of the songs in West Side Story, but "I Feel Pretty" is in the competition for the worst song in a hit musical ("We Had a Real Good Clambake" from Carousel might beat it out.)

Alexiev wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2023 7:17 pm

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2023 6:30 pm Prosthetics have a history of winning 'best actor' awards in Hollywood. Who's willing to bet that Bradly Cooper's fake nose will win the 'best actor' academy award for his horrible acting in 'Maestro'? As an aside, was Leonard Bernstein ever anything but a charismatic celebrity?

My most reviled Academy Award was Anne Hathaway for supporting actress in Les Miz. I like musicals, and I like Les Miz. Unfortunately, the movie version was horrible, and the worst part was a tone deaf Anne Hathaway trying to look like she was dying while attempting to sing "I Dreamed a Dream". It was so embarrassing that I had to hide my eyes when I saw it in the theater. The Academy loves bad acting. Prosthetics; losing or gaining weight; being so daring as to play a prostitute (in the past, see Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield 8 (how daring!).

American actors are bad anyway. If it was a genuine award then British actors would win every year (I'm not British). The one that springs to mind the most for me is Kim Basinger in that thing I can't remember the name of. She was barely in it, and did pretty much nothing. I wonder how many bjs she had to give to get that one.

An award is nothing more than a popularity contest among those who vote for the winner.

What Richard Feynman thought of awards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkv0KCR ... =ReidGower

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2023 9:44 pm What Richard Feynman thought of awards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkv0KCR ... =ReidGower

Accolades are not achievements. Feynman achieved whatever he achieved in physics regardless of whether he won a prize for doing so. Nonetheless, it's nice to be recognized. In addition, some prizes come with cash (including the Nobel). Many Nobel winners don't need the money, but some do. Poetry, for example, is not remunerative these days. I forget what money you get for a Nobel -- but a Nobel might allow the winner to spend more time writing poetry, and less working for a living.

It's true, though, that some people conflate accolades with achievements, which is a mistake. An acting performance (or any other accomplishment) is equally good or equally bad whether one wins an award or not.

Joe Simpson won a Booker for his book "Touching the Void". It's a mountaineering epic. In his sequel, he describes going to the Booker awards in which he was a finalist along with 3 or 4 very famous authors. He won. "Touching the Void" was his first book, and he'd never graduated from high school. Properly, he found the experience fun and amusing, rather than an achievement.