I have never been much one for the Oscars. I almost never see the movies nominated, I don’t care for either the speeches or spectacle and am aggressively uninterested in who wore what on the red carpet. I should have known I would "have" to write about them this week, what with both Birdman and Big Hero 6 winning Best Picture in their categories. But I didn't until I read Rob Salkowitz's column (see "Begun, The Hollywood Backlash Has") and learned that "With the Birdman win, Hollywood rose up as one and extended a big middle finger toward its reigning cash cow, superhero movies." I have yet to see the film (the smart money says I never will) but Rob describes it as being "unremittingly hostile to comics and popular culture in all its forms." And he quotes the film's director Alejandro González Iñárritu at some length as saying… well, let's just say he doesn't much care for superheroes or the movies made about them.
And he's not the only one. I found a piece on The Wrap by Jeff Sneider titled "Superhero Movies Dissed at Oscars Despite 9 Acting Nominees with Comic Book Roles." As well as pointing out, as the title suggests, that "nine of this year's 20 acting nominees have appeared in superhero movies in one shape or another, if we're counting Benedict Cumberbatch's upcoming turn in Marvel's Doctor Strange," it suggests that "superhero movies have been cast as the new enemy plaguing this awards season, despite the fact that comic book movies are the tentpoles that prop up the movie business." According to Sneider both Dan Gilroy, director of Nightcrawler, and actor Jack Black are on record as "blasting" Hollywood for its "over-reliance on superhero movies."
The 87th Academy Awards was also noted by many for its overwhelming whiteness. As pointed out in the piece "Multicultural Cast of 'Big Hero 6' Wins Big at Oscars" by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang that appeared on the NBC News site, the sole Asian representation among the nominees was Big Hero 6, winner of Best Animated Feature. Not just that, but it also managed to become Disney Animation’s third most successful movie of all time with an inclusive cast including its hapa (a Hawaiian word originally part of the phrase hapa haole meaning a mixed race Asian person) hero Hiro. According to an October 2014 piece on the Bleeding Cool website Joe Books (publisher of the Frozen, Pixar and Disney Princesses books) will be producing Big Hero 6 comics later this year. Here's hoping we start seeing the solicitations sooner than later.
Not that you'd ever guess by looking at his standard business attire, i.e., he didn't insist on dressing like, well, Sheldon Cooper. But he was an unashamed author of Star Trek: The Next Generation fan-fic, creator of the RPG Cones of Dunshire, maker of Claymation films, and unapologetic owner of a Batman costume. He bore the world no grudges, was never compulsive or defensive about his nerdiness, did well with the opposite sex, and even liked sports (though admittedly mostly for the stats). He would occasionally have to endure epithets like "dorkasurus" from his co-workers. But Ben got the last word when he told one of them "Nerd culture is mainstream now. So when you use the word 'nerd' derogatorily, that means you're the one that's out of the zeitgeist."
I was a big fan of the show and not just because the show had a resident nerd. Sure it was smart, funny and had a great cast, but mostly I loved it because, in the words of The Daily Show head writer Tim Carvell, "They figured out how to make comedy out of people who like things, as opposed to the usual sitcom where it's just people being awful to each other."
And while I know it's not a "genre" show, Parks and Recreation definitely has a special appeal for nerds and misfits. Intentionally or otherwise, Assistant Director Leslie Knope turned the Parks Department of Pawnee, Indiana into a safe zone for herself and her co-workers. A place where there were never any repercussions, recriminations or long-term consequences for their eccentricities or outsized behaviors.
Whenever someone in the Parks Department acts or screw ups in ways that would get you sent to the Human Resources Department in the real world they’re instead met invariably with acceptance, appreciation and understanding. It's the sort of work environment I've been looking for my entire life, but unfortunately Pawnee, Indiana is as much a fantasy place as Oz or Narnia.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
