Upstairs at Caroline
Not Enough Recognition
RECEIVED Tue., Dec. 8, 2015
Dear Editor,
Richard Whittaker mentions that Boyhood swept the film awards last year [“Louis Black's Linklater Doc Headed to Sundance,” Screens, Dec. 7], but he charitably leaves out the fact that the biggest prizes of all, namely, the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director did not go to Richard Linklater. I have seen Birdman. It is a fine film with many riveting performances. But it got the Oscar because it was an insider movie about the backstage lives of actors and other theatre people. No doubt the Academy voters could easily relate to it. What they found less easy to relate to was an epic film about a kid and his family growing up in Texas which was made by an Austin (ee gads!) filmmaker. Films like Boyhood used to be rewarded with the recognition they deserve. No more. Hollywood political correctness is running amuck!
Richard Whittaker mentions that Boyhood swept the film awards last year [“Louis Black's Linklater Doc Headed to Sundance,” Screens, Dec. 7], but he charitably leaves out the fact that the biggest prizes of all, namely, the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director did not go to Richard Linklater. I have seen Birdman. It is a fine film with many riveting performances. But it got the Oscar because it was an insider movie about the backstage lives of actors and other theatre people. No doubt the Academy voters could easily relate to it. What they found less easy to relate to was an epic film about a kid and his family growing up in Texas which was made by an Austin (ee gads!) filmmaker. Films like Boyhood used to be rewarded with the recognition they deserve. No more. Hollywood political correctness is running amuck!
Philip Drexler