Awards

Ok, even though I recently posted a list of Dudo509 Blogspot Awards, I still think the concept of awards is way overrated. There are simply too many different awards being given these days and I don't understand why people take it so seriously. Just off the top of my head, there's the Golden Globes, American Music Awards, Viewers Choice Awards, ESPYs, Soul Train Awards, MTV VMAs, Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, plus too many others that are even less meaningful. Academy Awards might be a little more prestigious than the others, but still I don't put much stock in them and I haven't watched an Oscars, Emmys, or Grammys in a really long time.

So I have to wonder why it is that people take these things so seriously. Movie stars, rappers, or athletes end up feeling dissed if they are not nominated or don't win a category. Or, they burst into tears of joy when their name is called, leading them to go up and thank God, their agent, and their mother (in no particular order). You know, I don't give a crap about them winning the award, I have a feeling that God cares even less. Anyways, why do these awards mean so much to these people? Aren't their millions of fans, their Cribs-worthy homes and cars, and the fact that they can pretty much date whoever they want enough to satisfy them? I guess not...

In reality, how much is an Oscar or Grammy worth? I'm sure there are a lot of great artists or actors who have won them, but I bet if I looked through a list of winners of the past 5 years, I could find a lot that suck too; what does that say about the credibility of such awards? And do we ever really go see a movie because it has 3 Oscar-winners in the leading cast? If so, is that even the real reason why people are so happy to win one, that more people will buy their music or see their movies, and they will make even more millions to add to their existing pile of money? I doubt it, people don't sob uncontrollably onstage because of something like that.

If I ever become an accomplished star, however unlikely, I will choose to ignore all awards ceremonies even if I am nominated or win. I remember when Eminem was first getting popular, he would say in his songs that he didn't care about Grammys, yet nowadays he still shows up to all the awards shows with a speech prepared. Artists and performers should make it their goal to constantly improve their skills and serve their fans with more creativity and excellence. They shouldn't strive for schmaltzy awards, but getting these awards should be a byproduct of how much they put into their work.

There are probably a number of exceptions to what I'm saying. The Nobel Prize, for example, is rich in history and given to a very limited number of people each year. If you win a Nobel Prize, your immediate peers include such people as Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Teresa. Not too shabby. With Grammys, on the other hand, even Christina Gaguilera and the Baha Men have won awards, while Britney Spears has been shut out for years - that's simply unacceptable.

Maybe I am just bitter because me and my Senior Design partners were ignored at the Senior Design awards this year, despite our project being awesome (haha). Or maybe I am feeling left out seeing that I haven't won anything half-resembling an award since freshman year of college (the Koehler Outstanding Freshman in Electrical and Computer Engineering Scholarship which basically fell in my lap).

Nah, I am not one to be bitter. If someone really deserves recognition, then I have no problem with them getting an award. It's just that I am so tired of hearing about a different award ceremony every single week. Then there is hype beforehand and all this controversy afterward about who should've won and why. I don't see how big movie stars and musicians can complain about being "shafted" when they don't win an award. Those thousands of Enron employees losing their job because of poor management, they got "shafted". And, isn't it sad that there are magazines and TV shows which dedicate themselves to this crap, and that people have jobs purely based on reporting this kind of stuff? Leads me to wonder if anybody in this country has a life of their own outside of watching the E! Entertainment Network all day. Not that I have a life though, I write blogs all day...