The Academy Awards are tonight, and I put the broadcast on. That was probably a mistake. It’s a curiously tedious and self-congratulatory show, but then no industry knows self-congratulation like the entertainment industry. Aside from the Oscars, Tonys, Emmys and Grammy’s, there are the Golden Globes and the People’s Choice Awards. In the film industry in the United States alone, there are 43 additional awards, including the American Film Institute, Broadcast Film Critics Association, Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, Golden Raspberry Awards (a.k.a. the Razzies), Los Angeles Film Critics Association, National Society of Film Critics, National Board of Review, Village Voice Film Poll, and the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Wasserman Awards, among many others.

I don’t care who wins any of these awards. I don’t care who got snubbed. I don’t care if the favorites won. I don’t care how many nominations Meryl Streep has received. I just don’t care. There have been some nice movies made, even some great ones, although generally Hollywood mostly makes very formulaic movies that are full of razzle-dazzle and progressively weaker on any real content. It’s a huge industry, and during these awards shows the recipients rattle off a bunch of names of producers and other money-men who none of us have every heard of before.

It’s enough already. The deification of Hollywood stars, of pop stars and rap stars and actors, it’s enough already. These people have some talent, but it’s only entertainment. It’s not rocket science or brain surgery or even being the best teachers on the planet. This deification is a reflection of our distorted values, and it would be good if we could right the ship.