The people who picked the Oscar nominees should have watched an 80-year-old Preston Sturges film for a little insight.

In 1941, when Sturges directed and wrote “Sullivan’s Travels,” the nation and world were reeling from a decade of depression, the rise of fascism and the early stages of a second world war.

In the movie, Joel McCrea plays John L. Sullivan, a Hollywood director who wants to produce a movie that cuts to the brutal reality of life. He sets out posing as a homeless person so he can better understand the common man’s plight to create a serious and relevant drama.

Sounds familiar looking at many of the best picture nominees this year.

In “The Father,” Anthony Hopkins plays an aging man who cannot tell the difference between reality and delusion due to dementia.

In “Judas and the Black Messiah,” a black leader is betrayed and assassinated by government agents.

In “Minari,” a Korean farm family loses their crops when the grandmother accidentally sets the barn on fire.

In “Nomadland,” a 60-something-year-old woman loses everything and takes to the road living in a van.

In “Sound of Metal,” a musician loses his hearing.

Sounds like a fun evening, huh?

This takes nothing away from the craft, talent, vision and effort that went into any of these movies or performances. But, man alive, Oscar, lighten up.

We’re going through a pandemic, economic turmoil, social unrest, coming off a divisive election – all within the past year. We don’t need the movies to tell us life is hard. We get the idea just from getting up in the morning and setting out on the day.

Granted, some of those movies arguably can provide insight and inspiration into coping with hardships. But in an era when movie theatres have been hit as hard, if not harder, than most businesses in the past year, the best picture nominees aren’t exactly going to bring back audiences in droves … maybe not even in a trickle.

You likely won’t see “Godzilla vs. Kong” winning any Academy Awards but the movie brought audiences back to theatres. Is there any great lesson in “Godzilla vs. Kong”? Yes. People need something to take their minds off their troubles for a couple of hours. Even if that is a couple of giant monsters destroying various cities.

Which brings us back to “Sullivan’s Travels.”

In the movie, Sullivan has directed several successful comedies but he wants to do something serious, something with substance. So, he embarks on his exploration into the plight of the common man. He goes undercover as a homeless man.

“Sullivan’s Travels” is a comedy until Sullivan loses control of his experiment. He’s robbed, assaulted and through a series of events is believed to be dead. Confused from the assault, Sullivan fights a railroad worker, is arrested and sentenced to six years hard labor in a prison camp.

In a rare moment of downtime, the prisoners are shown a Disney cartoon. This roomful of hardened men laugh at the cartoon antics and Sullivan realizes he’s laughing, too.

The laughter is a revelation. 

When Sullivan is finally released and returned to his Hollywood life, he’s granted permission to direct his realistic drama but Sullivan declines. He will continue directing comedies.

He has found the importance of lighter moments. He has discovered the richness of laughter.

Hollywood and the Oscars need a similar revelation.

 

Dean Poling is an editor with The Valdosta Daily Times and the editor of The Tifton Gazette.