ORIGINALITY!

Let’s hear it for The Hurt Locker, beating out Dances with Wolves…I mean Fern Gully…I mean Avatar.

For those of you who missed it, the Academy Awards (aka Oscars) went out last night. I always enjoy the Oscars. I’m a girl, so I LOVE the dresses and jewelry…and usually the hair, but I SO don’t get the pulled back hair with the frizz on top. Can someone explain that?

Anyway, this year Avatar was nominated for best movie. If you didn’t see it, don’t worry. You don’t have to waste, er, spend the money to see it at the theater. Just rent either of those other films I mentioned and you know the plot [SPOILER]: greedy capitalists want to destroy the peaceful nature loves while war-loving military men are ready to kill for any reason. Been there, seen that.

And that is EXACTLY why I was thrilled to see The Hurt Locker win. Admittedly, I haven’t seen it (but I would, just for Jeremy Renner), but I’ve read a lot about it and from what I’ve heard, it’s an original plot. [Please note: if this is not the case, then the rest of this post will not make sense and may be considered voided]

Why does this matter?

Because I want to see my novels published, and if I pitched an editor with a story about an orphan boy who didn’t know he had magical powers and it turned out he was the chosen one to defeat all evil, I would be laughed at and told that someone already wrote Harry Potter.

BUT…if you’re James Cameron and you make sure to throw in the right political message that all of Hollywood loves, then SURE! We’ll do this!

I had no desire to see Avatar because I suspected the plot to be the same ol’, same ol’. I wasn’t disappointed (because I WAS disappointed). Newbies can’t get away with crap like that – we need to prove ourselves. We have to show creativity, understanding of craft, style…but not everyone lives by those standards.

And that’s why I was pulling for The Hurt Locker. It’s not another attempt by Hollywood to sell you the same (usually political) message in a different bottle. It was an original story by a first-time nominated writer, and not a rich director’s continued attempt to push his politics onto me.

Phew. Got that off my chest. 🙂