The Ides of March

Yesterday was Pi day, which non-mathematicians know about now due to pizza places doing sales. But none of my coworkers got the reference when I said "beware the Ides of March." It's not exactly a holiday, I guess, but I used to take Latin in high school and of course read Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in school.

The Oscars were on Sunday, and this time I was interested due to Everything Everywhere All At Once's many nominations. So I half watched the awards while doing other stuff and was mostly pleased by the wins. (Though I still think Stephanie Hsu deserved the Oscar more than Jamie Lee Curtis. People argue that "she's young, she has time to win later" and "they're rewarding Curtis for her whole career." But I find that whole argument silly, because it creates situations like "the Oscars owe Angela Bassett for that Tina Turner movie" and new people getting overlooked for outstanding work because the Academy is rewarding other stars for things "owed" in the past. It's a terrible cycle.) Ke Huy Quan was wonderful, and the industry seemed to like the nostalgia and comeback story in rewarding Brendan Fraser in his controversial Whale movie too. Me, I was wanting to see Fraser in that Batgirl movie that was axed so cruelly.

I was also surprised by a number of Indians winning awards for RRR and a documentary called The Elephant Whisperers. They gave good speeches, and I liked the guy who sang The Carpenters. It's a good year for diversity in general. People online are arguing that Michelle Yeoh's win was not an Asian first due to Merle Oberon and different definitions of "Asian." I would argue that any mixed race winners who passed for white had an advantage over stars like Anna May Wong who were shut out of good roles due to their race being more plain to see. You can't win an Oscar, if the industry won't cast you in any worthwhile roles. Hopefully things are changing now.

I did like seeing the new trailer for The Little Mermaid, but am surprised that ABC actually made it part of the Oscars show, instead of playing it during the commercial break. That's a little weird and pushy for Disney. But corporations are for greed, not artistic integrity.