Oscar nominations: 'Bloody' shame

By: Jordan Kerfeld

Posted: 1/28/08

I don't think I will ever understand the members of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

They hand out golden Oscar statuettes to our favorite members of the film industry on a yearly basis, but they seem to be in a mysterious, cloistered entity that is out of touch with the movie-going public.

The two best documentaries of the '90s, "Crumb" and "Hoop Dreams," were snubbed for nominations, leading to public outcry and eventual reform in judging criteria.

Controversy returned last week when the nominations were released. Many were surprised to see Jonny Greenwood's score for "There Will Be Blood" excluded from the nominations. This was particularly surprising, as there are three major things critics seem to be echoing from their experience viewing Paul Thomas Anderson's latest feature:

1.?Daniel Day-Lewis' performance is brilliant.

2. Paul Thomas Anderson is an elite American filmmaker, joining the likes of Martin Scorsese and the Coen brothers.

3. Jonny Greenwood's haunting orchestral score is the bee's knees.

Simply put, all praise toward Greenwood's score is deserved. The guitarist of Radiohead did a fantastic job dealing with classical instruments instead of the rock/electronic idiom he usually works within. He creates a lush audio landscape that is frenetic, like a constant humming of bees that toggles from the innocent to the confrontational.

Film music has always interested me, but I've been quite disappointed by recent efforts. Many directors opt for seminal or obscure pop songs, but often spend little of their budget on original instrumental tracks to enhance their pictures.

I would say Top 40 radio-hits-as-score is an even bigger cheat in inspiring an emotional reaction for an audience. Imagine Bernard Hermann's music in the "Psycho" shower scene replaced with "Paint It Black," and you might see where I'm coming from (though I'm aware the dates of both are clearly contradictory).

While Greenwood made a valiant effort to complement Paul Thomas Anderson's complicated vision for "Blood," The Academy seems wholly un-interested in his achievement, deciding to assign its loyalty elsewhere.

According to a recent "Variety" article, the disqualification was attributed to a designation which excludes scores that use tracked themes or other pre-existing music. "Variety" reported the red flags came from elements of his own 2005 score called "Popcorn," which was commissioned by the BBC, and elements of Johannes Brahms' "Concerto in D Major," which is in the public domain.

I'm not fully satisfied by this excuse, partially because I truly believe there is no such thing as original music. I'm also fairly sure that many an "Original Score" winner was not completely original.

It's hard to see what the big deal is considering the state of popular music today. One can easily think of the endless samples, melodies and strict, genre-identifying markers (i.e. the blues song structure) that influence and define modern music.

I can't help but think about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

King is almost never talked about in a negative fashion, but there is one element of his life that is controversial to many.

It has been proven that his writings and works have lifted phrases word-for-word from other sources (sometimes also the grammatical/spelling errors inherent in the original pieces). He also frequently referenced quotes from the Bible in speeches and writing, though there is obviously less copyright concern in this respect.

This revelation floored me, but upon further contemplation I realized it didn't matter much to me, and did not really change my opinion of the man himself. His sampling of other works was not emblematic of a cheap and lazy attempt at personal gain, but a true attempt to re-contextualize and expand on a particular idea.

A great society functions on the precept that we are always trying to revise things and ideas so they may be more beneficial and of use to others. A few copied lines of ideas were enhanced and renewed by the many incredible thoughts and strategies King already had swimming around in his head.

Should we revoke the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday because of his plagiarism? Of course not. His life and work did nothing but harmonize our America society, and it was a mere scrape in a powerful, substantial body of work that was predominantly his own.

Jonny Greenwood had a similar idea to introduce new ideas into a very stale film music climate. Unfortunately, because he briefly riffed off a composer who has been dead for several hundred years, he will not be honored with the prestigious award. Greenwood is likely not worried, considering he is in one of the best rock bands of the past 25 years. But once again, the Academy is sending a discouraging and mixed message to the media-makers of tomorrow.

jkerfeld@unews.com