No Country For Old Men

Well, that's a crock. In Oscar World, it's all ABOUT old men, and young men, and pretty much all men, as long as they're white. There is a definite dearth of women nominees, and hardly any in the technical categories.

What's up? When it comes to grrrl power, Hollywood is actually more conservative and backward than the U.S. government. Do we need to start national film-career apprenticeship programs for girls and women to get females behind the camera?

The few women who did win came from the alternative world of documentaries and indies. That's heartening. But isn't it odd that women have always been and, seemingly, continue to be shut out of the higher echelons of all art forms? Imagine the amount of press it would get if 97% of the nominees (or the Senators, or the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, etc.) were women. Well, I think the status quo deserves the same amount of shock and attention.

I know this is not a new or original observation, but that, more than anything, is what came through at last night's Oscars. That and the fact that there are way too many strapless gowns with a too-fitted bodice ending in yet another fishtail.

Bo-Ring!