Maybe it is a shoe salesman who, while in conversation, mentions something along the lines of: "The Hurt Locker should definitely win for Best Picture, its portrayal of the war was so spot-on"Maybe it's your coworker who you overhear saying "Radiohead is just such a transcendent band, I love their new stuff. It's so good."Or maybe it is your sister who says "Obama the candidate was so much more effective than Obama the President."
No one even bats their eyes when statements like these are uttered. The problem is that most likely the shoe salesman has never been to Iraq, your coworker hasn't even heard the entire Radiohead album and your sister could not make followup point to back up her Obama point. Much like politicians are given talking points before going on the Sunday morning interview shows, everyday people have their own now. Listen to enough experts and your mind is made up for you.
Quick litmus test (no more than five seconds to answer these questions):
1.) Is President Obama doing a good job?
2.) What was the Best Picture this year?
3.) Do you like Radiohead?
4.) Should gambling be legal?
5.) Should the death penalty be used?
My results:
1.) Yes
2.) The Hurt Locker
3.) No
4.) Yes
5) No
Looking at this another way, here are my results with how confident I am in my answer (ranging 1-10, 10 being most confident):
1.) Yes (3)
2.) The Hurt Locker (5)
3.) No (9)
4.) Yes (10)
4.) Yes (10)
5.) No (10)
Why was I so sure about the last three questions? Well, they are either issues I have thought about on my own before or issues which I do not need outside help to formulate an answer. I personally do not care for Radiohead, I don't care what anyone else says. I personally do not see any reason why I cannot put $20 on the Lakers to beat the Bobcats. And I personally have researched the effectiveness of the death penalty to form my opinion. Case closed.
So what about the first two questions? Well, the first question concerns politics and no other realm of society is as highly scrutinized. After listening to an hour of political talk, one might form an opinion, but then after the next hour, the opinion could change. I am no professional political analyst, I feel like I have a good understanding of what is going on, but I rely heavily on others for my opinions (sadly). This is why I might slip into using one of the public talking points such as "Obama the candidate was much more effective than Obama the President". Can I argue this? Maybe for a few minutes, but then I would fall apart. My own knowledge is full of holes, so I need others to plug them. If they are not my own opinions I cannot very well be confident in them can I?
Avatar: Quite the achievement in cinematography, too bad the story fell short
Movies present another strange example. Here are my one sentence takes on the ten Best Picture nominees:
Avatar: Quite the achievement in cinematography, too bad the story fell short
The Blind Side: A nice film which is bolstered by the performance of Sandra Bullock and the emotions of the true story
District 9: A well done science fiction thriller which tries a bit too hard to get a social message across
An Education: An ensemble cast diving into the trials and tribulations concerning coming of age in 1960s London
The Hurt Locker: Thrilling from beginning to end, never a moment when the ills of war and its effect on soldiers are not in the forefront
Inglourious Basterds: A Tarantino film which manages to stay focused enough to produce a great experience, plus Christoph Waltz in a defining role
Precious: A tragic yet important film focusing on the gritty underbelly of societal problems featuring a handful of great performances from unlikely sources
A Serious Man: A Coen Brothers' take on the dark humor within the search for a balanced life
Up: Another classic from the Pixar crew which manages to hit on many different levels of humor and storytelling
Up in the Air: A well timed exploration into isolation featuring a subdued yet strong effort from George Clooney
And now, the admission. I have not seen half of these movies. But which ones? No one could really tell, they could guess, but they would not be certain. For the most part, these thoughts cannot be argued with. I could even go farther and put these in a list of my to five movies of the year.
1.) The Hurt Locker
2.) Avatar
3.) Up in the Air
4.) Inglourious Basterds
5.) Up
I could then say something like,
Sounds pretty good, right? I could have a civil discussion about these films with anyone short of a true critic and I could hold my own. The thing is, I haven't seen both of these movies.While Avatar was a breakthrough in the way movies are made and viewed, there is something to be marveled at by the ability of The Hurt Locker to hold every waning bit of focus of the audience. This is a film which I may never want to see again simply because the first time through was almost traumatic. I couldn't take the stress again. Award Avatar with all of the artistic awards available. The immersive world of Pandora truly is a spectacle and, in all honesty, Avatar would be the film to beat most year. Unfortunately for James Cameron, his ex-wife has managed to create something more spectacular than a 3D universe.
Public talking points are important. Without them, most conversations would break down. We live in a busy world and do not have time to create flowing, detailed opinions on every last thing. Sometimes it is easier and more efficient to just subscribe to some SparkNote opinions as provided by whatever expert you listened to last. Just remember, this is a slippery slope, before long you could be nothing more than a puppet.
And for the record, I do think The Hurt Locker should win Best Picture as it was the best movie I personally saw this year. But, then again, what do I know?
GRM
