Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Religious Music & Entertainment
The Oscars and ‘This Is Us’: What a Nation Wants From Hollywood

The Oscars and ‘This Is Us’: What a Nation Wants From Hollywood

Last updated on: February 27, 2017 at 1:56 pm by Kate O'Hare

The Oscars and ‘This Is Us’: What a Nation Wants From Hollywood 2017-02-27T13:56:55-08:00 Kate O'Hare

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I only watched the last third of the Academy Awards last night, and that was with the sound off — until best picture. Turns out I picked the best part. By now, if you care about that kind of thing, you’ve heard about the massive snafu in which “La La Land” was named best picture, but a moment later, it was revealed that “Moonlight” was the actual winner.

It’s all something about duplicate envelopes, and presenter Warren Beatty being handed the wrong one (the one for best actress, apparently, which was Emma Stone for “La La Land”), him being caught in the headlights, and so on. Investigations were launched, head will probably roll … it’s just one more unexpected, startling ending in more than a year of unexpected, startling endings.

Earlier in the evening, host Jimmy Kimmel also brought in a busload of unsuspecting tourists, as a gag. It’s hard to tell, though, who was the real butt of the joke — Hollywood or the ordinary folks from flyover America.

(And, the ratings took a dip, especially among younger viewers.)

“La La Land” is Hollywood celebrating itself, but a lot of ordinary Americans may wind up seeing it, because it offers song and dance and fantasy and escapism. “Moonlight” is the wrenching tale of an African-American boy growing up in horrific circumstances, struggling with sexuality and winding up in drug dealing. It’s one of those movies Hollywood considers “important,” but to be frank, relatively few people will wind up seeing it.

We can argue whether that’s a good or bad thing, but it’s probably a true thing.

Since I live on the West Coast, the Oscars ended fairly early, so I fired up the DVR and started to catch up on episodes of NBC’s hit family drama, “This Is Us.”

The Tuesday-night show has some edgy elements, but mostly it’s a warmhearted, emotional look at two generations of one family — young parents (Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia) struggling to raise triplets (two of their own, and one adopted baby); and the three siblings as adults, negotiating work, love, marriage and family.

Somehow, NBC’s “This Is Us” has managed to be the show that gives people in Los Angeles, New York, Tulsa, Dallas and Minneapolis the same urge to reach for the hankies. That includes the press that covers TV, who have regular attacks of the feels.

It’s not faith-based, but it’s not faith-hostile, and one episode was even Catholic-friendly. It might look a bit out of place among the softer fare on Hallmark Channel, but it really looks out of place on NBC, which — aside from “The Voice” — has generally been angling for the progressive urban and coastal audience.

I’d love to know why NBC picked up “This Is Us,” but I’m sure Peacock execs are glad they did. And if we’re lucky, network TV might go back to programming for people like that busload of tourists at the Oscars — and the movie industry may, too. Goodness knows, because showbiz, caught up in the disruption of the digital era, could use the help.

To do this, the creative community has to get on board. “This Is Us” creator Dan Fogelman has managed to make a show that hits both heartland and coasts, and still looks cool doing it — which proves it can be done.

There is a gulf between movies and TV that Hollywood wants to make, and movies and TV that people want Hollywood to make. Not always — Hollywood and America obviously agree on superhero movies — but often.

People gravitate to the entertainment industry for a lot of reasons, but frequently it’s because they feel out of place where they were. Their tastes and interests are sometimes different from the bulk of Americans, and once they hit Los Angeles in particular, their lives look very different.

Many are misfits seeking a place to belong. The irony is, to be a serious success, they have to produce work that appeals to just the kind of people they left behind.

The creative community might want to make movies and shows that are hip, cool and edgy, that win them Emmys and Golden Globes and Oscars, that get them magazine covers and online profiles and that next big development deal, but unless you produce something that makes money, the gravy train comes to an end.

The sweet spot is when a show or movie is not only a critical success, but a ratings and financial one as well.

Recently, media expert Matthew Faraci spoke at Family Theater Productions, a Catholic production company in Hollywood, where I manage social media, blog and produce videos. He spoke about the “values” audience, and how Hollywood ignores these folks at its peril. Here’s a short interview I did with him before the talk:

So, what is the “values” or “family” audience? I like to call it the “This Is Us” audience, and it’s pretty big.

Hollywood’s leaving a lot of money on the table. It’s up to the showbiz creatives and executives to decide if they really want America’s business.

Image: Courtesy NBC

Don’t miss a thing: head over to my other home, as Social Media Manager at Family Theater Productions; also like the Patheos Catholic FB page to see what my colleagues have to say.

Previous Post

February 22, 2017

Academy Awards 2017 Predictions: When the Media Nun Met the Film Critic

Next Post

March 2, 2017 'Beauty and the Beast': Disney Adds 'Exclusively Gay Moment' to Live-Action Remake

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category books breaking news digital media Faith practice food interview jane the virgin media movies music NFL Pope Francis Showbiz 101 social media sports technology television Uncategorized video

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz