Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Best v Favorite
Dave Berri at Freakanomics asked why the Oscars ignored The Avengers, since obviously the fans, around the world, preferred it to (almost?) every other movie.? And the discussion talks about "best" and "better". When, really, it's about "favorite".
Luciano Pavarotti can sing the pants off Bryan Adams, which is obvious when they are singing side-by-side. But I presume that twenty years ago, it was Adams' Cuts Like A Knife that sold more than whatever Pavarotti was selling at the time. Is there any male rock singer that would take the stage with Bocelli today and think "yeah, I deserve to be here".
So, these awards are not necessarily about "the best". I'm not even sure what it's about really. The Fugitive and Schindler's List came out the same year. I'm sure in terms of directorial effort, in terms of acting, in terms of scripting, in terms of just about anything, Schindler's List wins. But, it's The Fugitive that I love to watch over and over and over again. Maybe Schindler's List is simply too heavy to watch more than once start-to-finish. Maybe it stirs emotions that I don't need stirring on a whim, like when I'm channeling surfing, and I find Harrison Ford's bus in a train track. The Fugitive is gripping and thrilling.
In my view, we should be geared more toward The Avengers side. The question I'd ask is: of these two movies I've seen, which did I prefer to have seen? And so that with every movie I saw. And rather than take total wins, look at winning percentage.
This way, a little seen movies still has a chance. I did this for baseball movies, and this at least gives the little-seen Ken Burns a fighting chance. And while Field of Dreams might have the most wins (because everyone's seen it), it won't lead in winning percentage.
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