You’ve Got a Friend in Me, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise

February 26, 2011 Martha Thomases 19 Comments

There’s a lot of real important stuff happening in the world this week, things worthy of serious analysis and discussion.

We lost one of the great ones, but that’s too sad for me to talk about.

The people of the world continue to rise up against dictators, including this really crazy one.

The people in this country continue to rise up against dictators, including those who may be duly elected but who seem to think that a majority vote means they don’t have to compromise.

And a nut-job feels entitled to malign my people.

These are all important things to discuss.  And yet, they are issues too complex for me to tackle fairly or intelligently in a blog post.  Instead, I’m going to talk about what’s really on my mind.

The Academy Awards.

Years ago, I read an article that said, for businesses that market to women, the Oscars were at least as important as the Super Bowl.  SInce then, I’ve watched the commercials avidly, hoping that the female demographic would be valuable enough to inspire competitive creativity.  It hasn’t.  Revlon and L’Oreal might make ads that are beautifully produced and photographed, but they don’t push the envelope.

I watch to see what the celebrities are wearing.  This, too, is less fun than the Super Bowl.  There was a time when celebrities would dress themselves, and someone like Geena Davis would wear something goofy and fun.  Now, everyone uses stylists and, while mistakes might be avoided, it’s so much less interesting.

Hence, I’m left with the competition within the show itself.  In an ideal world, I spend the week between Christmas and New Year going to the movies, catching up on the films with Oscar buzz.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that this year.  Of the ten nominated films, I’ve only seen Toy Story 3, Inception, and True Grit.  I’ve tried to rouse myself to see The Fighter and 127 Hours, but they seem like too much of a downer for me to get off the couch, especially when, with the same effort, I can see Cedar Rapids, which I really can’t recommend highly enough.

Under these circumstances, why will I watch this year?  James Franco!  Not only is he cute and talented, but he seems like an amazing role model.  Not content to be a successful actor, he is studying for a doctorate at Yale and turned down TV time because he had to go to class.  At a time when some people will pimp out their kids to be on television, this is refreshing indeed.

People who know her tell me that Anne Hathaway is also a sweetie-pie.

So, if you want to reach me on Sunday, call before 8 PM Eastern time.  We may have pizza or beer, like a Super Bowl party, or popcorn and wine, like a girl-fest, but we’ll be watching.

Martha Thomases, Media Goddess, likes to daydream about the day when her boy wins an Oscar and includes her in his acceptance speech.