When the mega-talented (and equally looney) Icelandic wonder, Bjork, came out last night at the Oscars to sing her nominated song “I’ve Seen It All” from Dancer in the Dark, I swear if the majority of the audience didn’t look around like she was some alien spawn come to eat their children (you know, the children being raised somewhere else by an illegal immigrant)-or, at least, wear them over her duck suit. That crowd of stuffed shirts sitting around congratulating each other on shitty movies like Chocolat should feel grateful to have had an actual artist in the house (they cut out the brilliant Thom Yorke, who was supposed to duet with her, due to time restraints).
These awards shows are so lame. In fact, they are so lame and out-dated, it’s lame of me to even bother pointing it out. I’ll risk it, though, to remind everyone that it’s all about marketing, baby. The best actors and movies (and musicians, for that matter) rarely rise to the top because they don’t have the money and marketing machine behind them. So we get left watching Pretty Woman take home the highest acting honor possible, the Oscar, for wearing a really short skirt and not falling over onscreen. Yeah, yeah, her acceptance speech was cute and she seems like a really nice person, and hell, Erin Brokovich is a fine little movie ñ but “nice” and “fine” does not artistry make. Bjork, on the other hand, represents that rare instance where an artist, who never compromises to make a buck or get an award, is still able to survive and somehow even flourish amid all these people who call themselves “artists.” So anyway, here I am, lame and spitting in the wind ’cause business is business, and there’s no changing it. Still, thank God for Bjork who single-handedly unglazed my eyeballs for about three minutes last night.
Source: Ann Bowles
