The Festival of Mediocrity

Posted by John Baker
February 26, 2007

The festival was over, the boys were all plannin’ for a fall,
The cabaret was quiet except for the drillin’ in the wall.
The curfew had been lifted and the gamblin’ wheel shut down,
Anyone with any sense had already left town.
He was standin’ in the doorway lookin’ like the Jack of Hearts.

OK, the festival is over for another year. May the pap of Little Miss Sunshine and other films of the same ilk never bother us again (but don’t hold your breath).

Mediocrity is a real problem for us. Perhaps Hollywood will just fade away now, there are signs that that might happen, but will that solve our problem?
I don’t think so.

The approaching mediocrity (well, it’s already here) lies in the millions of blogs that are gathering around us like so many latter-day Triffids. Most everybody now thinks they’ve got an opinion and, worse, that we want to hear it. Very few filters to protect us, a red raw rash of plagearism, and thousands more promises of fledgling identity production every day.

Can it get worse? Or can it only get better?

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Viewing 23 Comments

Dan Schneider 2 years ago 1 point
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It will get worse, then better. Human nature shows that bottoms must be scraped b4 ascent starts.

Jennifer Hudson wins an Oscar? C'mon, it's a joke, just as a 6 year old being nominated in the suporting actress category.

Then again, idiots in Washington think a career poetaster like Donald Hall shd be Poet Laureate. Art's so hip, now.

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John Baker 2 years ago 1 point
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Ten out of ten for the right answer. But how will we know when we're scraping bottom? Feels very much like that to me right now. On the other hand, after taking a peek at the commentary by St John of the Cross, I worry that the real Dark Night of the Soul could last a whole lot longer than any of us expect. Could be something like Bush's war: once it's been won, then the violence and the killings begin . . .

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Kathleen Maher 2 years ago 1 point
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Of course you're right. Still, I doubt we're close to mediocrity's demise. Its existence tracks population growth. Its form and sound suits the popular norm, so yes, it usually will win most awards.
Without abundant mediocrity serving as a backdrop for every art, we might miss the sublime. Even with our present surfeit, who's to say great art doesn't glow under wraps, expressing a glimmer of real meaning? Each person must judge for him- or herself.
Keep an eye out, too, for the nadir, and all that falls within its range. Opposites converge, or at least that's the hope. If everyone is great then no one is.

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John Baker 2 years ago 1 point
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Thanks for the comment, Kathleen. You are right in so many of the things you say. Let us hope that you are not wrong in the hope that opposites converge.
Also, it's good to hear something positive, though difficult after an evening of celebrity-led self-indulgence and cringing banality.

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Ralph 2 years ago 1 point
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"How will we know when we're scraping the bottom"? Are you kidding me? If anything, the bottom fell out of the Academy Awards when Titanic won best picture and director instead of L.A. Confidential. I can't imagine 'sinking' lower than that!

I must say that I am amazed at the lambasting of the Oscars every year by smarmy people who have such high standards for cinema they can't enjoy a popular film that does not match their narrow template for great cinema. Despite what you folks seem to imply, mediocrity has always been rewarded, while those truly deserving have been snubbed. Citizen Cane, which is hailed as the best motion picture of all time by many, DID NOT win best picture in 1941. According to Wikipedia, "Orson Welles was booed when he picked up KaneÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s only Oscar for the night, for Original Screenplay."

Hollywood is a business, not a salon where art is always prized over commercial success. This reminds me of people who whine about professional sports because it's all about money. Yea, well there is no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny kids. Time to grow up.

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John Baker 2 years ago 1 point
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I can buy the Santa Claus thing, Ralph, if you're really sure about it but I'm not gonna be bullied into abandoning the Easter Bunny . . ..

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Tom Watson 2 years ago 1 point
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What about the tooth fairy?

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Dan Schneider 2 years ago 1 point
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Ralph: Dances With Wolves over Goodfellas.

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blue girl 2 years ago 1 point
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There was nothing mediocre about the props in the movie Antwone Fisher. Nothing, I tell you! I dare you to see them with your own eyes and then say they were mediocre.

:)

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Dan Schneider 2 years ago 1 point
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Oliver over 2001: A Space Odyssey.

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Self Styled Siren 2 years ago 1 point
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Gentlemen: Cavalcade over 42nd Street, I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang AND The Private Life of Henry VIII. Mind you, Trouble in Paradise, Scarface and Love Me Tonight weren't even nominated!

Twas ever thus. As for the proliferation of mediocre blogs, I glance at my own pink palace of opinionated-ness and wonder if I should say anything ... but I will anyway. Blogs are kind of self-winnowing. There are so many abandoned blogs littering the Internet like beer cans after a tailgate party.

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John Baker 2 years ago 1 point
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I went to have a look at that pink palace of opinionated-ness and got stuck. It's pretty pink, there's no getting away from that. Disconcertingly so for a man. But all those pictures and comments and opinions drew me in and after a while I started to think . . .

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Claire 2 years ago 1 point
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To quote Cole Porter:
It's always darkest, just before they turn on the light.

At least I hope so.

Actually, MA Peel said something in her Peter O'Toole post that I think summed up the Oscars:
It may be that the Oscars can only measure degrees of excellence between the ordinary actors, not the dangerous ones.

The Oscars aren't about awarding the cutting edge or the genius, but more about rewarding the mediocre when they stretch beyond their normal bounds, even if it is ever so slightly.

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Dan Schneider 2 years ago 1 point
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Claire- allone has to do is act retarded, be defiled or indignant, and Oscar comes acallin'.

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Esoth 2 years ago 1 point
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What do you think will keep Marty awake even longer, the fact that The Academy denied him the prizes he deserved, or that they awarded him ones he didn't deserve? Fine Academy tradition observed, handing out the Oscar to a Director after he's sold out/gone over the hill. If you're in a mellow mood about it, you can see it as belated recognition for early, overlooked brilliance, but there is also something of Hollywood making the upstarts come down off their high horses and making crap just like everyone else.

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John Baker 2 years ago 1 point
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If there's one thing that actorÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s know . . . other than that there werenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t any WMDs . . . it's that there is no such thing as best in acting. Sean Penn.

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Jennifer 2 years ago 1 point
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"Most everybody now thinks theyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve got an opinion and, worse, that we want to hear it."

Hmmm, as far as I know, opinions are still free territory whether mediocre or not. As a woman, my ilk has only recently been allowed the option to not only have, but to voice an opinion. I'm pretty certain I'm mediocre, but I don't think I'm ready to go back to the school of, "When we want your opinion, we'll give it to you."

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Dan Schneider 2 years ago 1 point
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John, Sean's not exactly known for his intellect.

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Dan Schneider 2 years ago 1 point
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Esoth: Bingo!

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Tom Watson 2 years ago 1 point
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Marty will sleep like a baby - he's a movie director.

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John Baker 2 years ago 1 point
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Jennifer, I don't want to stifle free speech or stop anyone from expressing their opinion. I only want somewhere to escape from drivel from time to time. OK, it's not possible, but a guy can dream . . .

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Brutus 2 years ago 1 point
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Mediocrity compared to what? Cinema and television don't even begin to rank as high art compared to, oh, literature, painting, music, poetry, sculpture, all the traditional forms and media that have existed for centuries. What do collaborative forms (which are heavily infused with killing commercial interest) really have to offer but low expectations? For a pop culture critic to complain that movies and television aren't good enough is like a food critic complaining that the macaroni and cheese isn't really very good. Maybe you should take the opposite approach and wonder why any movies manage to be entertaining at all after they've passed through the creative gauntlet.

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John Baker 2 years ago 1 point
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There's nothing wrong with the form of the film. Art happens in stranger places. Theatre is also a collaborative form and that has not stopped it from realising artistic ambitions from time to time.
OK, not much good has come out of Hollywood in recent times, but independent film-makers all over the world have been coming with good examples of film-as-art.
We'll always be swamped with macaroni and cheese and the stuff that MacDonalds exports, but there's no reason, because of that, to say that no food can cut the mustard.

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