Oscar's Pump Ratings With MacFarlane's Below The Belt Humor: Should A Cheap Trick Overshadow The Real Meaning Of The Awards?

Photo: style.mtv.com 

The numbers are in and ratings were up for Sunday's broadcast of the 85th Annual Academy Awards. And the big wigs are positively giddy. After many desperate attempts at making the famed awards  appeal to younger audiences, they have finally made a little head way-and in the process stirred up a little scandal.  It makes me wonder though, they may have gotten the exposure they wanted-but at what cost?

Also dropping the supposed "stuffy" "Academy Awards" prefix from all promotional materials, the now simply called "Oscars," bases their new-found viewership off host Seth MacFarlane. 

Known by many as the voice of Peter Griffin, the patriarch of the Griffin family on Fox's animated sitcom Family Guy, he certainly made an impression Sunday with his...well...interesting...humor. 

And that impression was mostly bad. Not your mama's comedian, MacFarlane picked on everybody with his usual crass-ness, placing special emphasis on women. Making them the butt of all most every single joke-and including in his act a song about actresses who have gone top-less for films entitled: "I Saw Your Boobs." 

Naturally, the scandal mill has all but burst into flames due to the outrage. Sexist, inane, juvenile, hideous, and disgusting are only a few of the terms used to describe him and that's just from one article. And with each buzz word/article/tweet that goes out, searches for the Oscar's go up-which is exactly what they were aiming for. 

Which brings me to this question: Is everybody over reacting? I mean, its was just joking. Un-intelligent and base joking. But joking nonetheless. And shouldn't we have expected this? Big execs use cheap attention grabbers to breath new life into what they deem "graying" productions all the time-its nothing new.  

Shouldn't we as educated, passionate, and engaged viewers just ignore the stupidity and concentrate on the true reason for the Oscars? To honor the actors, actresses, and film makers that have brought us films that we have fallen in love with-some of which will go down in history and create and  inspire fans and newcomers for generations. 

As I write this, I'm watching Argo and in not one of the 35 minutes that its been on my TV screen, have I thought about Macfarlane or the Oscar's popularity contest. If I want to be entertained by flashy comedy and stage shows, I'll watch the super bowl. 

I watch the Oscars because I love films. And that's it. Besides, the ratings were only up 2% and Macfarlane couldn't have been the only reason people tuned in.

 So I won't give the scandal anymore fuel and stop ranting about something that doesn't deserve it. 

Just saying. 

Now to finish the rest of Argo. (Why didn't I see this movie when it was in theaters?!) Happy Monday night people! :)