People in showbiz (and other bizzes, I imagine) refer to the Flyby (or Flyover) States…that is, states that don’t register on their personal radar other than that they fly by them while jetting from Los Angeles to New York and back. Well, fly by states have viewers with ratings boxes as much as NY and CA do, and I have a strong feeling that they’ll be watching something else this year for the Oscars.
(Broad brush warning: The following is speaking in generalities, not individuals. If you feel you’re an exception, then you probably are. I’m speaking of general viewing habits, not specific viewers.)
None of this year’s Oscar nominated films are remotely what one would call populist fare. My purely unscientific guess is that the vast majority of film goers have not seen the vast majority of this year’s films or its nominees. Not only that, but two of the films focus on homosexual protagonists (“Capote,” “Brokeback Mountain”), but one of the nominees (Felicity Huffman) plays a transsexual. So not only do you have no films that are general viewer turn-ons (such as “Titanic” was), but considering the number of states that went out of their way to introduce the legislative bigotry that is the gay marriage ban (there, I fixed it, happy? You knew what I meant), I have to think you’ve got some active turn-offs in there. This may well be the first Oscar cast that’s picketed by the religious right.
And who’s the MC? Jon Stewart, whose work I adore and you probably do as well. But compared to the heartland appeal of Johnny Carson, or the vaudeville schticky “eager to please you” Billy Crystal, Stewart may well be perceived as that smart ášš smug New York Jew (plus anyone who doesn’t have cable may well not know who the hëll he is.)
When you consider all that, I have a sneaking suspicion that this year’s Oscar cast may well have ratings that make the Tonys look like a ratings bonanza.
Me, I’ll be watching. What can I say? I’m a glutton for glitzy out-of-control sluggish behemoths of awards shows. Plus it’s Jon Stewart, and we smart ášš smug New York Jews must show solidarity. But I’m doubting I’ll have a ton of company, especially in the Fly Bys.
PAD
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nope, they have a con where people go and learn about things they dont know about. in mississippi, there are a lot of people who still equate d&d with devil worship. why? no informational outlets.
He came and talked to people and acted like he cared. A lot of people will believe him just because he showed up.
He visited New Orleans as well, and strangely, most people there don’t seem to believe he cared.
I don’t think it’s as simple as the flyover not seeing enough celebrities to feel comfortable about Hollywood. With the tabloid TV shows and the internet, the average person in Mississippi probably knows as much about the state of Brittney Spears’ marriage as the people in Beverly Hills do. I think it’s more that celebrities tend to live in urban areas and urban areas tend to skew liberal. The majority of people in the “flyover” live in rural communities, which tend to skew conservative.
i mean’t nope, but there are likely fewer…yadda yadda
“The majority of people in the “flyover” live in rural communities, which tend to skew conservative.”
liberals had mississippi until reagan. my grandfather never voted for a republican in his life. there was no republican governor in the state after the civil war until the 90s with kirk fordice.
a lot of that is post war animosity, though.
but still you back my point up: the more isolated you are, the more conservative you will be.
and new orleans is a whole different ball game than mississippi. for one, they just had a flood. if you visit coastal mississippi, you will see a lot of places where there were cities, towns and communities where there is nothing now.
there are a lot of people in mississippi who resent all the attention new orleans has gotten in spite of essentially just having gotten spit upon on katrina’s way to rape mississippi’s coast.
I’m sorry, but it’s just not that simple.
For example, has DragonCon convinced everybody in Georgia that D&D isn’t Satannic? I doubt it.
But does everyone in New York understand that it’s not Satanic? Again, doubt it. Remember the movie Mazes and Monsters, that painted this really bad picture of D & D? Starring Tom Hanks, from California, and set in Michigan, where a real investigation into the “criminal” and “occult” aspects of the game was conducted. Point being, I think people everywhere have misconceptions about D&D, and likewise, D&D is extraordinarily popular all over the country as well.
The same can be said not just for D&D, but for any of the discussed movies or other popular tastes that it would appear the non-“fly-over” states believe are exclusive to them. I’m always kind of amused when people from said states believe they have something of a handle on the cultural environment of “fly-over” states. But how could they when they indeed just fly over them? I live in northeast Tennessee right now, and yes, it’s true, a significant portion of the population votes Republican and probably doesn’t have any interest in a movie like “Brokeback Mountain.”. But an equally significant portion of the population does just the opposite, and Brokeback Mountain has been quite a popular movie at my local theaters. So I’m always kind of baffled when people from elsewhere in the nation purport to understand states that they don’t live in, because half the time, their assumptions are just incorrect, at least as it pertains to my own experience in this “fly-over” state. But I don’t know, maybe some place like Ohio or Utah does hold true to these perceptions. Haven’t been there, can’t say.
“With the tabloid TV shows and the internet”
likely not as those shows don’t get much viewership. entertainment tonight didnt start airing in the state until the turn of the millenium. only 47% of the state has internet access, the lowest rate in the nation. i imagine only a tiny fraction of that is high speed internet.
where do you find out about things? the local news and church.
liberals had mississippi until reagan. my grandfather never voted for a republican in his life. there was no republican governor in the state after the civil war until the 90s with kirk fordice.
The fallacy in your point is equating liberal with Democrat and conservative with Republican. That is the current state of affairs, but not always. In the 19th century, the Republicans were the liberal party and the Democrats were the conservatives. And yes, the Democrats dominated the South after and civil and continue to do so until the Civil Rights Act in the 60s and Nixon’s southern strategy triggered a watershed that reversed that trend, making most of the south solidly red.
But just because those states were electing Democrats from 1865-1990 doesn’t mean they were electing liberals. In fact, the “Dixiecrats” (southern Democrats) were well known as being some of the most conservative politicians in the country, rallying around the traditional conservative issue of states rights (to be racists) and a limited federal government. But, as the national Democratic party under likes of FDR, JFK, and Johnson starting skewing more towards a stronger federal government, particularly in the role of civil rights, many Dixiecrats switched parties. Indeed, many of the most strongly conservative republicans of the past 50 years such as Trent Lott, Jesse Helms, and Strom Thurmond, began their careers as Democrats or working for Democrats.
likely not as those shows don’t get much viewership. entertainment tonight didnt start airing in the state until the turn of the millenium. only 47% of the state has internet access, the lowest rate in the nation. i imagine only a tiny fraction of that is high speed internet.
Well, there are the tabloid papers like the National Enquirer, but I suspect the next thing you’ll quote is that Mississippi is at the bottom of the country in adult literacy, too. 🙂
Whether they have high speed or dial up, those that do use the internet can still view the entertainment news websites if they can read them.
And ET is hardly the only program that airs celebrity news and gossip. All of the broadcast networks are something that covers the topic. And if they have cable, I’m sure they watch Fox News, which also does celebrity reporting. The point is, people who want to know about that stuff can find it pretty easily if they want.
Point being, I think people everywhere have misconceptions about D&D, and likewise, D&D is extraordinarily popular all over the country as well.
I think those misconceptions were far more common in the 80s and early 90s, when Chick publications were at their height and the Tom Hanks movie was aired on TV. I haven’t seen to many instances of people claiming that D&D is a tool of the devil in recent years. Most people seem to regard it as just another aspect of geek culture.
You make a good point about misconceptions about other states. I imagine that many people in Tennessee have just as many misconceptions about what life in NY or California is like as well. The biggest problem that the Democrats have is that on a national level, they’ve all but retreated from the “flyover” (I’m really getting to hate that term), so to them, it’s starting to look like a foreign country.
As I mentioned before, Pennsylvania, or, as James Carville called us, “Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Alabama in between”, is about 50-50 split between urban and rural. There are parts in Pennsylvania that look exactly like some of the towns in the South that I’ve visited and the attitudes are more or less the same.
“AMADEUS. A great film, though your point is valid.”
Not really. I’d much rather watch Amadeus than Spinal Tap. I’m not sure what his point even is, actually.
But does everyone in New York understand that it’s not Satanic?
Which pretty much agrees with my point that throwing some celebrity out there in association with X, Y, or Z doesn’t mean anybody gives a rat’s ášš, or they’re going to be more enlightened about X, Y, or Z afterward, regardless of where they live.
While Brian seemed to be saying that, some how, having PAD go to a con in Mississippi is suddenly going to change how people there view comic books.
It isn’t.
Well, it depends. Amadeus is a great movie, no question about it, and it’s been far too long since I’ve seen it. But there are probably more times that I’ve needed to sit back and relax with a dose of fictional stupidity, as opposed to the real thing.
(And now I feel bad because I just got back from taking some of my students over to an adult day care center so they could make candles with some of the elderly residents. The kids were great, so sweet it could almost break your heart. It’s always easy to focus on the screwups and slackers but by and large these are good kids and given the opportunity they can really come through. So always take my occasional bìŧçhìņg with a grain of salt.)
“Posted by Jeff In NC at February 1, 2006 06:12 PM
“Of course, ABC will welcome all our eyes to the show and chuckle all the way to bank. Between the $uper Bowl and the Oscar$, the network is definitely starting off 2006 in fine financial shape.”
And this is a bad thing, how? And given that this is probably the last Super Bowl ABC has for a while, give them a break.”
Jeff in NC… as the author of the top quote above I don’t remember saying ANYTHING negative about ABC at all. In fact, I don’t remember even IMPLYING anything negative about ABC.
Go back and reread my post. I was carping about Rev. Wildmon and just stating the obvious.
If a man-made controversy does end up surrounding these Oscars– it will most certainly be a boon to ABC by increasing viewership. This doesn’t mean that they started or fostered any of the controversy in any way… But they’ll “love” it if it increases their ratings.
And I don’t need to give ABC “a break”. I watch COMMANDER IN CHIEF, BOSTON LEGAL, LOST, INVASION, DANCING WITH THE STARS (sue me, a friend is on it), CRUMBS, DANCING WITH THE STARS RESULTS SHOW, INJUSTICE, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and GREY’S ANATOMY.
If I gave them any more of “a break”, I’d need a third DVR and only 2 hours of sleep instead of my normal 3 or 4!
Two things about us flyover states/rural areas and the Oscars…
1. It’s hard to make room for, say, Capote when you still have five screens of the multiplex devoted to multiple showings of the same movie. (And that is so they can make more money, in theory, and do better for Monday. Horse race culture.)
2. The Oscars were invented as a gimmick for advertising. Sure, sometimes a nomination or a win goes out to a movie/performance/script/etc that really just deserves it, and sometimes the nom/win goes out to a movie that needs no help with the box office. But mostly, those noms get people curious. Because most folks, really, want to see why something is considered “the best” (or a candidate for same.)
Brokeback Mountain is playing in rural theaters as we speak in part because of that. (;
“While Brian seemed to be saying that, some how, having PAD go to a con in Mississippi is suddenly going to change how people there view comic books.”
As a photojournalist, I have lived and traveled all over the country and I think about the people I meet and their situations. I work in Philadelphia now. I have been around. Hopefully you are not as dense as your comment there makes you seem.
Mississippi is basically a state that has had it’s morality taught to it from the Old Testament. Without other people going, talking and educating, there is no balance to the information presented.
You had the largest natural disaster in the last hundred years happen and the only person who cared enough to come see was the President. That buys him quite a bit of loyalty. Remember, that has been shunned by most all celebrities since the 60s. (My dad hates Bonanza. Why? When he was a kid, the cast was going to come visit, but cancelled because the colleseum wasn’t integrated. Did my dad hate black people? No. Did it teach him how important civil rights are? No. It just taught him that his heroes hated him because of where he was from. You can hope that wasn’t the lesson they were trying to send to the youth of the state.)
So how do you fix it? Have people of stature who are well-spoken give them new heroes and people to look up to. There isn’t a thing wrong in the world with looking up to all your favorite Old Testament heroes, but sometimes it helps if you know about people who thought twice before using the jawbone of an ášš to wipe the floor with your enemies.
Anyway, it’s late. I am tired and rambling. I am sure most everyone is content to leave the poor states to fend for themselves.
Add me to the list of mid-westerners tired of the whole “fly-by” designation. I don’t have to go far to see the nominated films, even most of the documentaries. Brokeback Mountain is playing in my town of 25,000 and I saw both The Matador and Syriana last weekend.
Wasn’t easy to find Howl’s Moving Castle last year, but that’s more Disney’s fault than anything to do with where I live.
Don’t hate us just because our cost of living is so much lower than yours. (but catching up)
You had the largest natural disaster in the last hundred years happen and the only person who cared enough to come see was the President.
I guess you didn’t see Sean Penn riding around in his rowboat helping people.
Seriously, are you saying that celebrities have to make a meaningless photo op in your hometown for you to like them? Seriously, when a celebrity shows up at the site of a natural disaster, its more about them getting some publicity then the people who are actually in need. Bush showed up (eventually) because it’s his freakin’ job as president to visit the site of natural disasters. He didn’t do it out of charity, he did it because for five days after the hurricane hit, he got slammed in the media for appearing disengaged and clueless about what was going on there.
And tell your dad to get over the Bonanza thing. If I were Michael Landon and had to keep my religion in the closet in the 60s because producers were afraid people in Mississippi wouldn’t even watch the show if they found out I was Jewish, I tell the state to go f–k itself too.
Hey, can someone tell me what “What about Naomi?” is a reference too?
I remember that Paris said this at the end of Incredible Hulk #405. I didn’t get it then and I don’t get it now! To what does this allude???
Thanks to whomever can help me!
Just had to respond to Den’s post above, about the attitudes about D&D and their timeliness. Trust me, the satanic title is far from over for D&D or Warhammer or some of the other RPGs out there. Hey, I once had someone tell me the Star Trek RPG was satanic and vile. My response to this last was “Oh, you’ve played with George too?” A game master whom the only thing we could come up with that was nice to say about him was that he had nice shoulders. As was said above, if someone doesn’t understand something it’s labeled as vile and evil and “not the thing we want for OUR children. Now let’s go lynch someone!”
Jason, “What About Naomi?” was the tagline announcement for a fictional soap opera called “Love of Chair”. The whole thing was a running gag on PBS’s “The Electric Company”, airing in the early and mid 1970s.
(Now, I know why I saw it so much — I was born in 1970 and thus grew up with the show. I don’t know why PAD knows it so well, though!)
TWL
Ðámņ, did it again, got in the middle of a post and lost my point. The big reason you don’t hear about all the satanic RPGs out there is because now it’s the video games, horror horror, that are ruining our children! Although, a lot of parents do that JUST fine on their own…
But that’s the point, parent groups and the wingnuts have found other targets to go after. In the 80s, it was RPGs and playing heavy metal records backwards. Now, it’s video games and Spongebob.
THey should leave Spongebob alone. Now, if they went after Dora the Explorer and The X’s, THERE they’d have my support. Brian(my young clone) will have Dora on for HOURS at the end of which, just by hearing it, I want to drive my car through a 7-11 just to stop the voices…my god, the bilingual voices….
As a Midwesterner, I have a term for the coasts. “Nice to Visit.” It’s fun to vacation on the coasts. I go to one of them at least once a year. But the Midwest (South Dakota specifically) is where I want to live and raise a family.
I personally take exception to you refering to Jon Stewart as a “smart ášš smug New York Jew!”
The man was originally from Lawrenceville, NJ, which would make him a “smart ášš smug NEW JERSEY Jew!”
First you New Yorkers take Frank Sinatra away from us, then Joe Pesci, and now Jon Stewart?
Just because the New York Giants play in the Meadowlands Stadium doesn’t entitle you to steal OUR national monuments! Talk about nerve! 😉
But seriously, I couldn’t agree with you more about this possibly being the most controversial Oscar ceremony since Chris Rock chewed out that Big Name Chippee (what’s her name?) for making out with her husband-of-the-month in the balcony while he was doing a monolog ON NATIONAL TELEVISION!
“I guess you didn’t see Sean Penn riding around in his rowboat helping people.”
that was new orleans. there is a difference between mississippi and new orleans.
while i have run into racists in the south and elsewhere, i have never run into an anti-semite anywhere, so that was just morons in hollywood thinking there was a problem when there wasn’t.
if there was a problem with anti semitism in the south during that time, how would they have seen any movies since most of the studios were founded and run by jewish immigrants?
“Bush showed up (eventually) because it’s his freakin’ job as president to visit the site of natural disasters. He didn’t do it out of charity”
sorry, missed that part before: it’s all about perception. for the most part, perception = reality for people. if your house explodes, will you think more of the person who comes, looks and promises to help or the people who don’t? and if just one person with any power to do anything to help comes, will you be grateful or just be suspiscious and paranoid?
another addendum: and if just one person with any power to do anything to help comes, will you be grateful or just be suspiscious and paranoid? particularly if your local pastor tells you that person is heaven sent to help you and protect you from eeville lurkin in thuh shadders (lurking in the shadows)?
and what does that do to your ability to think objectively about that person since the consensus is the guy is a hero for other things and now he is trying to rescue you?
we are talking about a state where the fartherest most people have travelled from home is florida.
Hey, I’ll freely admit to loving the lib vs con arguments more then the average “next guy” out there. However, has anyone thought that maybe the show will do poorly more due to the lack of big movies to get behind then due to the politics of it all?
There aren’t many films in the mix this year that were really major $$$$/popular support winners at the box office and very few films that people want to see as their root for under dog winner. It’s kinda like going to someone else’s stadium and rooting for somebody else’s team. A lot of people like to get behind something because it was their pick and its winning shows that they had better taste or smarts then the people rooting for the other team.
Think about all those categories in the awards shows that most people don’t care about unless it just happens to be their thing. Well, that’s how most people are probably seeing this year’s show’s major categories. Most the movies didn’t play in lots of areas and then they had to deal with whether or not they could overcome the “culture war” aspects being stirred up by so many out there in the media. Many people out there don’t care who the hëll wins because they don’t have a horse in the race.
I’m not much different. I only watched last year’s show because I wanted to see Peter Jackson and LOTR finally get all that was due them. I don’t care about this years show because I didn’t get to see the movies I would likely root for (like Good Night and good Luck) and I don’t care about the rest. It’s got nothing at all to do with politics and I can’t be the only one who feels like this.
That should have read…
“…has anyone other then our host thought that maybe the show will do poorly…”
Several thoughts:
First of all – Munich should CRUSH every other movie in the best pic category because it deserves it. It works as pop entertainment as a thriller, but it also offered a very unique perspective on terrorism, vengence, and human bloodshed. Great stuff, one of Spielberg’s best in this century. Munich is not a movie about a conflict of political or religious ideologies — it’s got bigger things on its mind, larger ideas, like how people deal with violence and vengeance, how becoming a killer simultaneously causes them to dehumanize themselves, how a “regular” person deals with pointing a gun at someone intending to kill them. If you haven’t seen it, leave the computer and go, right now.
Second of all – Man, I can’t wait to see Jon Stewart host this. I loved Chris Rock last year (yeah, even though 90% of audiences’ didn’t) but Stewart is the freakin’ man! Considering how ‘effed up Oscar night can be (Jack Palance doing one-armed push-ups anyone?) you know he’ll have an awesome spur-of-the-moment quip to tear the whole thing down.
Third of all – just for kicks and giggles here’s my top ten list of 2005. (Munich and The Matador, two movies that were wide-released in 2006 that I adored, are not on there cause I hadn’t seen them by that point. However, both are at the top of my 2006 list right now. Anyways)
10. The Devil’s Rejects
9. Kung Fu Hustle
8. Lord of War
7. Crash
6. Millions
5. War of the Worlds
4. Jarhead
3. Murderball
2. Sin City
1. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
If anyone cares, I’ll post the longer-winded top ten list. But, yeah, doubt it. (ROTS rocks, don’t deny it.)
Well, reading your list reminds me … I see so few movies.
I am interested in seeing Munich, I think. And it’s nice to see Revenge of the Sith recognized – that was a pretty awesome movie – it really delivered on some surprises, drama, and heart – and yes, it was one of the best I saw last year. (I’ll vote for you posting your reasons for your Top Ten, btw.)
I notice another of my best missing from your list, though – see Serenity. (You don’t have to have seen Firefly first – my wife didn’t. She said she had no interest in the show; but volunteered to go see the movie with me. And, she became a huge fan of both. At this point the question isn’t “Has Serenity been played today?” but “How many times has it been played today?” 🙂 )