The only movie up for anything that I've seen, oddly, is "Crash." I'm glad it won for Best Picture, because it did tackle an important theme and did it well, I thought.
I also feel as if I watched Matt Dillon grow up. He used to play snot nosed kids you wanted to slap...and turned into a character in this movie that you still wanted to slap...but then.... It was a good performance.
Racism is alive and well and living in America and we can't be allowed to forget that.
My husband's office mate is a young black man that I call his "son." My husband rarely develops close friendships, but this guy went right under my husband's wing to learn about life. My reaction rather rocked the young man, especally when he was informed that I truly believed that somewhere out there was this wonderful black woman my husband had slept with to cause this guy...and I wanted to meet her.
He helped us move, and when I told him that I was hijacking his daughter because I wanted grandchildren and my own daughters hadn't delivered...he took a while to process that. I could see the big thought bubble with "this is one strange white lady" over his head.
In California, where "Crash" is set, there is a huge mixture of races. If one wanted to be bigoted, one certainly has the chance. If one wants to meet diverse people and have some outstanding food, one also has the chance.
They mentioned "Brokeback Mountain" being an "issue movie" as well, which is why it got so much press. It's a more "popular" issue. People talk a lot about gay rights now. It seems that people like to pretend that racism is something of our past and no longer relevant. That's not even close to the truth, as anyone with anything other than an Anglo Saxon background will be quick to verify.