If a bunch of celebrities throws themselves a self-congratulatory awards party and nobody watches, did it really happen? Well, yes it did - reality isn't contingent on paying attention. But when you are an entertainer, the only thing that really matters is people paying attention to your antics. So, in the case of last night's desultory Academy Awards, I believe it might as well not have happened as last night's farce suffered the second-lowest viewership of all time (it was only eclipsed by 2017's comically bad lineup of talent and movies).
Now, why do I bring this up in a posting about Ready Player One? Frankly, I consider this classic bit of Spielbergian escapism to be more deserving of a Best Picture award than any of last night's nominees. Mind you, I am not saying this because I thought RPO was a great movie - it wasn't. At best I would say it was a feel-good fluff movie of middling merit. However, unlike last night's sorry lineup, it is a movie that will prove to have far more enduring popularity and value than anything on display last night.
