And One More Thing.....,

There has been much discussion regarding the “snubbing” of Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ in the nominations for this year’s Oscars. Because of my background as a “film scholar” (of sorts) I have received several queries on the matter. Here’s my answer for all of you: “I just don’t care!” The endless round of awards ceremonies and tributes are essentially marketing tools to gin up interest in the industry’s products. The hype and controversy over “who is in and who is out” is just another aspect of the marketing enterprise. Gibson’s exclusion has generated more publicity than he could ever have gotten by being nominated. There’s really not much more to be said, unless you want to get into the "culture wars" discussion, which in itself is just a form of political marketing.

UPDATE:

MSNBC [well they have to fill the time somehow] devoted an entire hour tonight to discussing Gibson and Moores' snubs. I missed nearly all of it but tuned in late in the show to hear Jeff Jarvis tell Pat Buchanan that Birth of a Nation was just "a bad movie," because of its racism. Jarvis knows better. In a former life he wrote a review column for TV Guide. Now he is a big name blogger and occasional commentator for cable TV [as opposed to yours truly who is a miniscule blogger commenting on a cable commentator -- yes, I do have a certain degree of self-awareness]. Griffith's epic was a landmark event in the development of the American movie industry. It was technically innovative and significantly advanced the state of the art; it opened new markets for the industry's products; it shaped the form of American movies for a generation; it had political impact at the time just as striking as those of Mel and Moore's efforts today; it stirred a national discussion on race relations; it was the first American film shown at the White House [Quo Vadis, an Italian production, had been the first film shown there -- Woodrow Wilson had a taste for epic productions -- witness his crusade to "make the world safe for democracy"]. I could go on and on, but the point is clear. Birth of a Nation was far more than a "bad movie."

By the way, a piece of movie trivia: one of the extras playing a Ku Klux Klansman in the film was young John Feeney. He changed his name and grew up to become John Ford, a director whose impact was comparable to that of D. W. Griffith.