Oscars!

There were good and great moments, and there were bad and embarrassing moments. But I'm not going to say anything snarky about tonight's show, because I'm sick and tired of those who would consider themselves intellectuals and/or social arbiters talking about how awful the show was. To those people, I say it's time to lighten up and have some fun in your lives. Believe it or not, what happens in the three or so hours on the Oscar telecast does not have a big impact on the course of human history. It doesn't mean that we care less about what's happening in Libya or Egypt or Wisconsin or __________ (fill in the blank). Lighten up, folks. And if you can't, then with all due respect please skip the show. It really ain't worth it.

I won the family pool, even though I went with "Social Network" instead of "King's Speech" for the two biggies - Film and Best Director. I think the former is the better film, but liked the latter a lot, so it doesn't really matter. All of the acting awards were entirely predictable, so all of the contests came down to the rest of the categories - and there was enough of a mix there to make things unpredictable and entertaining.

And no, James Franco and Anne Hathaway weren't the best hosts in the history of the program - that distinction will forever remain with Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, and Billy Crystal - but they weren't awful, and the opening montage was absolutely brilliant. I wish they hadn't done the Kirk Douglas thing, but other than that, it wasn't bad. And good, bad or indifferent, it really means nothing in the scheme of it - so if and when you read the pundits tomorrow saying that the show is the sign of the decline of western civilization or some such nonsense, it's OK to say "get a life" - it's only a show.

UPDATE: My, I do seem to have been a little testy last night when I wrote this - not sure where all of that was coming from. I've toned the piece down a bit. And I should make a distinction between legitimate criticism of the show, of which there has been plenty, and the pieces that use the Oscars as one more reason to criticize Hollywood and liberals, for their own political purposes.