What the Oscars Tell Us About Ourselves

I'm a bit of an Oscar fiend, and I love the talk-radio lead-up to the show almost as much as I like making fun of the dresses with my wife. This year, it has occurred to me that little Oscar tells us a lot about ourselves (and the media). For example:

- Outsider Lust. The media love to talk about how the Coen Brothers are "outside the normal Hollywood system." They live in New York, not L.A. When they write a screenplay, they claim not to know what's going to happen on the next page. They don't make guest appearances on "Entourage." They're just plain weird.

- First-timer Obsession. The media are infatuated with "Juno" screenwriter Diablo Cody. What's not to like? First-time screenwriter. Former stripper. Now presumed Oscar winner. That's a little more interesting than the guy who got nominated after going through UCLA film school, was Tori Spelling's personal assistant and failed with his first seven scripts.

- "One of Us"-itis. In Minnesota, the coverage of the Coens and Cody has been borderline insufferable. Cody wrote the script at a Starbucks while living here between Chicago and L.A. The Coens share the same hometown (St. Louis Park) as Al Franken and Tom Friedman. (I remember during "Titanic" Fever seeing a local news story on some guy from St. Paul whose cousin painted one of the sets. That was after the lead story on squirrels.)

- The Icarus Complex. Both of the above are now in backlash mode. I call it the Icarus Complex: After we--and the media--hoist you up, we will grow sick of you and Lucy your football. (Sorry, too many analogies there, but I think Jesse Ventura gets my drift). Diablo Cody is now an affront to real birth mothers. "No Country for Old Men" is now overrated, its ending abrupt and obtuse. "Atonement," much ballyhooed when it premiered, is now a bore. Why, the jaded Time magazine movie critic asked yesterday on KFAN, aren't we recognizing less snobby fare like "Knocked Up," or long-overlooked actors like Hal Holbrook?

- Quality Depreciation. Two things you can set your clock by: In the winter, the media will question whether the Oscars are still relevant. In the fall, they will question whether "Saturday Night Live" has lost its edge. As we grow older, we insist that each is losing its luster... that SNL was best with Chevy Chase and John Belushi (and later, Bill Murray). And that the Oscars are never better than with Billy Crystal as host.

(Such beliefs are simply a product of romanticizing one's own past. Yet, I have to agree with both.)