All Pain, No Gain

摘要

It's unfashionable to carp about Hollywood's motives in handing out the Oscar for best picture. Savvy filmgoers are, at this late, cynical date, surely aware of the industry politics afoot, even if we reserve the right to howl privately about the worst offenses. Each awards season we are reminded that, in 1981, golden-boy Robert Redford's Ordinary People beat out Raging Bull by Martin Scorsese and The Elephant Man by David Lynch-a fact that, by itself, could suffice as a prosecuting attorney's closing argument in any civil action against the Academy.