Stone on "LMS" doctrine

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"Whatever Little Miss Sunshine is about, it isn't about anything bad," Oscarwatch.com's Sasha Stone wrote yesterday morning, echoing Richard Corliss's just-posted views in Time. "It's all good. It deals with the goodness of humanity underneath it all; it has an idealist's view of people. It is the only one of the five [Best Picture nominees] that does.

"The country needs to vote for Little Miss Sunshine because to do anything else opens the door to the truth. We can't handle the truth, not right now, not when we don't really know what's coming next.

"Like the psychiatrist who tells Alvy Singer in Annie Hall that "the universe won't be expanding for billions of years yet, Alvy, so why don't we enjoy ourselves while we're here?", films like Little Miss Sunshine, Crash, Million Dollar Baby and A Beautiful Mind affirm our need to believe that we are all honorable, good people. Moreover, [that] good people win even when they're losing."

And yet each of the above-listed films burrows into some pretty dark places. They may have presented positive portraits of their characters and worked with sanitized and/or tidied-up plots, but they don't give the impression of shirking or sugar-coating life in its more subterranean realms. Family dysfunction, career failure, suicide, insanity, euthanasia, racism -- hardly escapist-minded subject matter.

comment #1

jeffmcm says ...

It sounds like Sasha's a little uncertain as to whether it's a good thing for LMS to win or not; 'it's escapist, but that's okay!' she seems to be saying, justifying and rationalizing it all. If LMS wins it'll be like Oliver! or Rocky winning over superior movies in their time and will serve as an example of our current self-absorption and denial.

I'm just curious, though, where are the polling stations? If the whole country gets to vote, I wanna get in early and often.

comment #2

T. S. Idiot says ...

Yet there's a big difference between saying something worthwhile about family dysfunction, career failure, etc. and using them as shortcuts to facile emotions.

comment #3

EveHarrington says ...

It seems to me that she's not positing this as her own viewpoint but trying to get into the heads of Oscar voters. And jeffmcm, there is no sense in trying to figure out if something winning is a good thing or a bad thing. To paraphrase Forrest Gump, Oscar is as Oscar does. If they vote a certain way because of their psychographics, it can't really be railed against.

comment #4

jeffmcm says ...

Sure you can rail against it - anytime crap gets rewarded, it means more crap will be made. I'm not saying LMS is crap, but you get my point.

comment #5

EveHarrington says ...

I do, and you're right. But where Oscar is concerned, the majority rules. And the truth is, the majority doesn't have the most discerning taste. They "like what they like." The intersection of the true best film of the year and the Oscar for Best Picture is about as common as a Jackalope.

comment #6

NYCBusybody says ...

Webster's Dictionary, 3rd Edition -

"Discerning taste" - adj. n., etymolygy: English;
of or pertaining, conveniently, to the
personal taste of the user of the phrase.

comment #7

jeffmcm says ...

Sure, but you seem to be saying we should just shrug our shoulders and not care if we don't agree, Eve, while in fact the winners get salary bumps and studio deals and so on. Mediocrity begets mediocrity.

comment #8

cjKennedy says ...

If LMS wins, and I believe it will, I hope everyone remembers Sasha's article because I think she nails the reason for it in a way I've been trying to articulate for a month and a half and have failed at every turn.

I'm sick of the comparisons to previous Oscar races tallying the number of nominations and which nominations in which category are the clearest indication of the Best Picture winner and blah blah friggin blah.

And I'm sick of the Sunshine backlash. The relentless "I just saw LMS and it was ok but...." remarks and all the others. I curse the next person that points out LMS shares many plot points with Vacation as though they're the first ones to notice this obvious fact. My recommendation to the haters is the next time you feel such thoughts bubbling up in your brain, take a moment, pat yourself on the back and mutter to yourself quietly "It's true, I'm much smarter than Little Miss Sunshine but no one cares so I'm just going to keep my stinking pie hole shut for a change and move on with my life" because you know what? Everyone gets it and no one cares.

And maybe sometimes Oscar isn't about "too gay" or "too soon" or "Marty's due" or anything else. Maybe it's about people loving certain movies for reasons you can't quantify in the "Best Picture For Dummies" hand book. Maybe it's not even about the best picture. Maybe it's about the most liked picture. If LMS does win, it will be because the most people liked it.

And maybe that's ok. For the record, I'm rooting for The Departed, but I'm not a voter.

Did the world end last year when Crash won? Well, sometimes it seems that way but that's certainly no fault of the Academy.

Ok, here's the part where I stop for a minute and decide whether to post this nonsensical rant or delete it...

comment #9

storymark says ...

So, cj, if we didn't think LMS was the greatest film of the year, just keep our mouths shut?

Thanks for encouraging intelegent conversation.

Good on you.

comment #10

cjKennedy says ...

Yeah that was a massively retarded thing of me to say. It was a response to a litany of such comments that I'd just read in another blog. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and is free to express it. I was just venting steam.

And I still think LMS is going to win whether it's the best picture or not.

comment #11

jeffmcm says ...

I would prefer for Babel to win, because even though it's probably the weakest of the five nominees, at least it has something more on its mind than insular feel-goodery. (But I'm also rooting for The Departed).

comment #12

cjKennedy says ...

That's funny jeffmcm because sometimes Babel feels like insular feel-baddery...the opposite side of the LMS coin. I agree though that of all the nominees it feels like the weightier film except for maybe Letters From Iwo Jima.

On the other hand, I think there is more going on in the other nominees than they're given credit for.

The Departed is still the only nominated film that would be in my personal Top 10 of 2006.

comment #13

JD says ...

So... 92% of critics don't have discerning taste either?

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/little_miss_sunshine/

The Oscars can't be criticized for having bad taste. Of the five best picture nominees, only Babel received less than 92% favorable reviews (with only 69%, it's by far the least critically acclaimed nominee). And why does everyone expect their own personal taste to be precisely duplicated by the Oscars anyway? It's ridiculous. None of us are right, we just have our own subjective take on things based on personal baggage, beliefs, etc. If Oscar voters can actually agree on 5 fairly worthwhile nominess for best picture (as they did this year), I think they should be applauded.

comment #14

EveHarrington says ...

jeffmcm, welcome to Hollywood! :) And NYCBusybody, lol. Of course it's subjective -- what isn't? And cjkennedy, LMS is just getting its very own backlash thanks to its perceived frontrunner status. It's all filler anyway until the night of! I personally don't think there is a frontrunner but what do I know.

comment #15

EveHarrington says ...

JD, all due respect but Dances with Wolves is a bad movie. American Beauty is a bad movie. In terms of critics (for whatever their reviews are worth -- they're not exactly the arbiters of discerning taste either) versus the Oscars, Sasha (appropriately enough) wrote a column on that very subject this morning:

"Metacritic has made a tidy list of the best reviewed films of this year and prior years. Army of Shadows takes the number 1 spot, followed by Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo Del Toro's masterpiece. The Queen takes number 3, Letters takes number 5. Departed makes the list at number 12. Little Miss Sunshine does not make the list. The year before, Crash did not make the top 20. Before that, Million Dollar Baby was at number 10. Return of the King had the number one spot. Chicago did not make the top 20 the year before that. A Beautiful Mind also did not make the top 20. And finally, Gladiator did not make the top twenty. So more often than not, the best reviewed films do not win. Interesting, eh?"

comment #16

Chris Molanphy says ...

If I'm rooting for 'LMS' at all – and I liked it, so why not? – it's because it's a comedy. The record of comedies failing in the Best Picture race since 'Annie Hall' in '77 should be embarrassing to the Academy. Enough already. I liked 'Departed' better, but...hell, give the damn statue to a comedy already.

comment #17

cjKennedy says ...

You're right about LMS backlash Eve, and what made my rant even more retarded is that it was backlash against the backlash (meta-backlash?) and not really based on any passionate opinion about the movie itself.

I saw part of Dances with Wolves on TV a few months back and it was even worse than I remember it. Laughable. I have to admit, I liked American Beauty though I haven't seen it for years.

comment #18

Doug says ...

I think the reason there is so much debate over this year's Best Picture nominees is that they are very good films, but none seems to strike audiences as "great." The only great film I've seen this year is "United 93."

By the way, Chris, as someone who's read about the opening of the West since I was in single digits, I absolutely love "Dances With Wolves."

comment #19

nola says ...

american beauty does not hold up well. I believe Dances with Wolves beat Goodfellas.

LMS is fun but it's not the best pic of the year. For me United 93 and Pan's blew me away and I will think about those movies for a long time.

comment #20

JD says ...

You're missing my point, Eve Harrington (why not be Margo Channing, by the way? She's way cooler.). I'm not applauding the Academy for its track record, I'm applauding it for this year's best picture nominees (none of which, incidentally, would appear on my list of the year's best). The fact is, movies that really appeal to individuals tend to be pretty extreme and even alienating to some (my favorites last year were Down in the Valley, Marie Antoinette, United 93, and Miami Vice), whereas the movies that appeal to a group tend to have a broader, less specific appeal. But that doesn't make them terrible films. Given that this is a democratic process (and not decied by you or me), I can live with the choices. Twenty years ago, movies like The Pursuit of Happpyness, The Blood Diamond, and Dreamgirls would have been nominated for best picture. At least the nominated films have strong, original filmmakers at the helm.

comment #21

DarthCorleone says ...

"The country needs to vote for Little Miss Sunshine because to do anything else opens the door to the truth. We can't handle the truth, not right now, not when we don't really know what's coming next."

Whatever your reasons for supporting or not supporting LMS, and whether the movie wins Best Picture or not, this statement is so inane that I am compelled to rant about it. We can't handle the truth? Sticking our collective heads in the sand because we don't want to deal with truth is exactly what causes the world's problems! I will never support this sort of willful ignorance, and I will always back truth. It can be tough, but in the long run the truth is what humanity needs for all facets of advancement. I'm not talking about movies here; I think healthy comedic escapism is fine. I'm talking about LIFE. But, go ahead...anesthetize yourselves by turning a blind eye to the world's problems. Surely that's how things get solved!

comment #22

cjKennedy says ...

As you say DarthCorleone, you're talking about life. Not that Ms. Stone can't defend herself, but I'm pretty sure she's talking about movies and her comment isn't inane at all. Willful ignorance is indeed a danger, but there's nothing wrong with forgetting the world's problems for a few hours inside of a movie theater.

I don't think she was making political commentary, just talking about movies.

comment #23

jeffmcm says ...

"Willful ignorance is indeed a danger, but there's nothing wrong with forgetting the world's problems for a few hours inside of a movie theater."

Doesn't one of these contribute to the other?

comment #24

cjKennedy says ...

It would if you spent most of your time inside of a movie theater, but I don't see a problem with "a few hours".

comment #25

bipedalist says ...

"I will never support this sort of willful ignorance, and I will always back truth. It can be tough, but in the long run the truth is what humanity needs for all facets of advancement. I'm not talking about movies here; I think healthy comedic escapism is fine. I'm talking about LIFE. But, go ahead...anesthetize yourselves by turning a blind eye to the world's problems. Surely that's how things get solved!" Rail against it if you want - it wasn't a political speech to win an election but an observation as to why a "happy movie" might beat films that reflect our modern age in more difficult, complex terms.

I did not hate Little Miss Sunshine - I found it moving and sweet - it's impossible to hate it. Would I add up all of the films from 2006 and call it the best one? Uh...no. Pan's Labyrinth, Departed, Letters and Flags are the best.

comment #26

DarthCorleone says ...

I'm sorry, but I wasn't the only one talking about life. When you make a statement like "The country needs to...," you're not just talking about movies either. It's just the silly Academy Awards. If you want to tie them into real-world issues - and certainly the Oscars have been not only a reflection of society but also have had an impact on our outlooks every once in a while - then I think my critique is perfectly valid.

If Little Miss Sunshine is the most liked movie, then I'm fine with giving it the Best Picture. That should be because it's better at being fun and escapist than these other nominees are at being somber and real. Ultimately it's our responsibility to get our truth from other sources. But to say it should win because people need a good dose of ignorance...that's just ridiculous.

comment #27

MoroccoMole says ...

It's true the Academy often doesn't give comedies their due, Chris, but doesn't Shakespeare in Love count as one?

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