There’s Something About Awards Shows

I just love top ten lists, awards shows, and the greatest of collections. There’s just something about awards shows that compel me to watch; tonight’s Oscars are no exception. I write this as I watch the best and brightest of the year receive their statuettes, and for some their only moment of glory and then it’s back to anonymity.

I think it’s the conversation that begins as soon as one of these shows concludes that draw me in. I love the debate that ensues. Maybe that’s the English teacher in me.

But more than that, I enjoy the sharing of experiences with my friends and family as we discuss our picks and our remembrances of the items on the best of lists. Even though I taught a novel this year, The Princess Bride, where the author parodies the fascination with these lists and rankings, I still love them. I even love them when ESPN calls a horse (Secretariat) an athlete, or when Titanic, on a wave of nostalgia, steals a Best Picture award from L.A. Confidential. Sorry about that bad pun–couldn’t be helped.

I look forward to tomorrow’s lunch time debate with my favorite group of debaters, a group we have self-proclaimed the Joint Chiefs.