Apparently sick of all the negative insta-reactions from last weekend’s 83rd annual Academy Awards, Academy President Tom Sherak sat down with The Hollywood Reporter this week to give a wide-ranging defense of the much-maligned awards ceremony. As may be expected for a man tasked to defend a product so universally despised, Sherak’s tone varied wildly, shifting from evasive to defensive to mournfully resigned.
The highlights of each mood:
Defensive: Who says there was anything wrong with the show in the first place? “You can say we failed. I say we still got 38 million [viewers].”
Buck-Passing: It was the movies’ fault! No one made any good blockbusters this year! “We didn’t have an ‘Avatar’ or a ‘Titanic’ this year. We had some really good movies that did a lot of business, but it is what it is. Next year, if there is a huge movie, you’ll see more people.”
Excuse-Making: Don’t blame James Franco and Anne Hathaway; they’re nice young kids! “I think they were doing their job. Franco is a very charming guy, but sometimes you need a comic to make fun of things. … You will never have everybody agree. There is no Bob Hope anymore.”
Resigned Acceptance: Rumors are flying that Hathaway and Franco were maybe not everyone’s first — or even third, fourth or fifth — choices for the hosting gig, an impression that Sherak does not exactly dispel. “Give them an A for guts to get up in front of everyone. People don’t want to do it. They don’t want to take the chance of hurting themselves.”
So, give them points for effort, everyone! Now if only every job was like that… (via The A.V. Club)
