I *do* think it's important to point out the total insignificance of the Oscars as anything other than an index of popular trends in the film industry, most notably the industry's desire to represent itself to the public--as artistic, as independent-oriented and not studio-controlled, etc. Heavy-duty outrage is a bit beside the point with the regular awards--the special lifetime awards, however, being different matter. That said, I was actually more compelled by Paltrow's Oscar tears than by the performance that supposedly merited the very award which provoked those tears. (It is ironic that feelings of authenticity emerge retrospectively from exactly such ironies.) If one wanted to criticize Paltrow's "Oscar-winning" performance for lack of depth, her acceptance speech could be entered to make a prima facie case. While in the comment below Chris downgrades these speeches as "calculated," I would say the televised performances were less calculated than the celluloid one. The fact that Paltrow's contorted facial expressions during her Oscar acceptance speech were terrifically unbecoming (even on someone so easy on the eye) only called to my attention the way the same actress will not let herself do anything that is not pretty and even calculated to be pretty in her filmed performances. For me this constitutes the lack of depth of those performances, although it does not mitigate their (rather limited) charms. (On these criteria, she was better in _Hard 8_.) But Paltrow is still young, and there's no reason she shouldn't grow. Let's not forget that Jessica Lange's performance in _King Kong_ could hardly have alerted us to the full extent of her talents. Also, if the Golden Globes speech was PR, was there really any need for the Oscar speech to be so as well? After all, by that point the campaign was over and the goal achieved. Sincerely, Edward R. O'Neill UCLA At 10:14 PM 3/24/99 -0500, you wrote: >Gwyneth Paltrow is a wan waste of celluloid. She won because she cried >at the Golden Globes. She used her father's illness as well as her >grandfather's illness to win her the Oscar. The Golden Globe speeches >are calculated attempts at votes. Before the Golden Globes, Blanchett >was the front runner. After the waterworks, Paltrow had it locked. >Perhaps, Susan Lucci should do that sometime. > >Chris > >---- >Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the >University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu > ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu