Moultrie — I hardly ever watch the Oscars. A lot of what I like to see in a film seldom gets nominated. For a while there, it seemed that weirdness was what the honors were all about, and I prefer a genuine story with a plausible script. Of course that requires real writing with less emphasis on things being blown up, people getting naked, magic carpet rides and ghosts, etc. Well, naked ain’t so bad if it’s handled correctly. Tom Sawyer could hardly go skinny dipping with his clothes on.

But this year, the Avatar flying lizard show didn’t win Best Picture even though it was the highest box office grossing movie of all times. Instead, that Oscar went to “Hurt Locker,” a screenplay by a journalist who had returned from the Iraq war and decided that what he had seen and experienced should be put on film. It became the lowest grossing film ever to win an Oscar.

Now I’m not saying it didn’t take a lot of talent to make Avatar into a blockbuster. And it did win a sack full of technical awards. I’m just saying that flying lizards with people riding on their backs isn’t my cup of tea. It wasn’t plausible. But apparently, a majority of movie goers don’t care about plausibility.

In contrast, what I’ve read about “Hurt Locker” (I haven’t seen it yet, but I will) was indeed about reality.

As well, Sandra Bullock won Best Actress for her leading role in “The Blind Side.” Again, here’s a movie script based on something that actually happened in real life. In this movie, Bullock befriends a black football player. In either of these films, the script required real writing. No one leaped a high rise building or a rain forest in a single bound. Nor did they posses swords with lightning bolts shooting from their blades. They are not only plausible, they did happen off the screen.

And then came Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” who won Best Actor for his portrayal of a washed-out country music singer. There’s a whole lot of washed out country music singers in real life, so once again this script conveyed a story from the streets and backroads.

Some will say that movies like Avatar challenge the imagination. I don’t doubt that. And I’m not saying these movies shouldn’t be acclaimed. But it just does me good once in a while to see stories about everyday life and current events conveyed in a powerful screen production.

One must realize that the moviegoers don’t nominate movies for the Oscars nor do they cast the final votes.

When an Academy Award winner thanks "the Academy" in an acceptance speech, he or she is referring to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), an organization comprised of more than 6,000 film industry professionals, including actors and actresses, directors, cinematographers and other experts in the field of acting and film production. In other words, a jury of their peers makes the decision.

So maybe good writing based on plausible events is not a lost art. Maybe it will see a resurgence.

And I’m not saying that the director of “Hurt Locker,” being one of the ex-wives of the director of “Avatar,” is about poetic justice. I’m just saying, “You go girl!”

Dwain Walden is editor/publisher of the Moultrie Observer, 985-4545. E-mail dwain.walden@gaflnews.com