Oscar Threads

I've won many awards for my books, but I always find out I've won online. But in 2009 I attended the Los Angeles Comedy Short Awards because my husband TV writer Ron Corcillo had a short film up for Best Comedy Short. His category came up, presented by comedic actresses Mindy Sterling (Austin Powers) and Wendy McClendon Covey (Bridesmaids). They did some comedy riffing ... read the nominees ... and then ... announced that Ron's film Daryl From OnCar was the winner! I never screamed so loudly in my  life!  So, I am always happy for people who win Oscars because I kinda have an inkling of what that moment feels like. And  I am always even happier for the winners if their work through the years has touched me in some way. Hey, if their work has made me happy at some point, I am doubly happy for their success.

So, every year I look at the list of winners and it gets me thinking about all the ways they've delighted me through the years. Certain wins just tug at threads, reminding me of some cherished entertainment.

So what threads am I tugging at today as I look at last night's Oscar winners?

I've seen Sam Rockwell in so many wonderful movies through the years, from Confessions of a Dangerous Mind to Frost/Nixon, but as soon as I saw that he won, I shouted to Ron, "Someone from Galaxy Quest won!" Galaxy Quest is a wonderful movie that pays off in absolutely every respect. Has-been actors from a cult sci-fi show get called into space by  aliens who've seen their show, think it's real, and want the actors to use their space-fighting prowess to help them save their planet from evil monsters. This hilarious movie also subtly and brilliantly touches on ideas of romance, friendship, loyalty,  hope, determination, hero worship, what it means to be a hero. I remember when I first saw it, I had NO IDEA what  it was about or anything, but man, if blew me outta the water. And Sam Rockwell is perfect as Guy, the "nobody" on the show so he is sure he is doomed to be killed off first.

Gosh, I am so happy for Jordan Peele. I especially love it when someone who's known for one thing goes and wins an Oscar in something different - like when Keith Carradine won the Oscar for Best Song for writing I'm Easy for the 1975 film Nashville. Peele won for Best Original Screenplay, but like many people, I know him from his comedy team Key and Peele, along with Keegan-Michael Key -- I found them both especially delightful in Keanu, a comedy about two middle class guys who have to track down gangsters in order to get back Keanu, Peele's kitten who is kidnapped by drug dealers. Keanu also stars Nia Long, who I first came to adore when I saw her in the movie The Secret Laughter of Women with Colin Firth.  And Jordan Peele is married to Chelsea Peretti, who I love on the TV show Brooklyn 99!

Frances McDormand! Yay!!!!!!!!!!! What an amazing actress! On my very first date with Ron, we rented the movie Frances McDormand won her first Oscar for, Fargo. Oh, and she was just too delightful in Almost Famous: "My son has been kidnapped by a rock and roll band!"

And Allison Janney! In most things I see her in, she plays a supporting role. But no matter how small the role, she makes whatever she is in just that much more AWESOME! The romance novel-writing guidance counselor in 10 Things I Hate About You, the prudish Prudy in Hairspray, the tell-it-like-it-is mom in Juno (where she co-stars with J.K. Simmons, who won an Oscar a few years ago), the divorced mom to Mandy Moore's angst-riddled teen in the wonderful movie How to Deal and as the literature professor who doesn't think much of Hugh Grant and his Hollywood ways in The Rewrite - a quiet little movie that stars a bevy of Oscar winners: Janney, J.k. Simmons, and Marisa Tomei. A has-been screenwriter who takes a job teaching a screenwriting class at a small college on the East Coast -- oh, it is so delightful!

What delighted you at this year's Oscars?

And the Oscar for Best Butt Lift Goes to...

Last Sunday night I quickly grew depressed then resigned as I squinted through the glitz to see teeming rows upon rows of plastic expressions, over-processed hair, and inflated lips. It's as though stars no longer grow old, but instead grow ludicrously comical and ridiculously fake. Fifty on screen no longer looks like Perry Mason or Edith Bunker, but like a cartoon duck. Why fight aging just to end up with a booby prize? Why fight aging at all? Are wrinkles really so much worse than bubble lips and sucked in cheeks?

Is it so bad to live life and show the evidence?

But wait.

Damn it, I kind of stepped in a puddle here. I uh, em, dye my hair. Ever since the age of 28, I've been having the gray highlighted out of the blonde. I'll never forget the first time I asked my hair guy extraordinaire Jordy if he could touch things up a bit.

Me: Could you maybe highlight it a little? I've got few strands of gray here in front.

Jordy: Honey! You've got gray all over!

So, I, too, fight aging in my own way. By keeping my fly-away split ends as sunny golden as they were when I was a kid. And you know what? You might not like the way my hair looks. You might think I should condition it, perm it, heck, on some days brush it.

But that's okay. Because I like the way I look. And today's stars – or at least the agents of today's stars and LOTS of fans - like the way they look. I'm okay, you're okay. Or even if you're not, it's not my business. And vice versa, I'm sure, to quote Sherri Ann Cabot. I think it's cool to be cool with one another. Sound good? Truth is, lots of people thrill to this idea of acceptance.

How do I know? Because it's the essence of romance and lots of people read romance. Romance reveals the journey of two people becoming more tolerant, more understanding of one another. The Walls of Jericho come down, bit by bit, (not necessarily with the fanfare of a toy bugle) so that two people can recognize and feel that pulsing core of some truth, some frequency, some rhythm that they share. And it is this simpatico that will keep them happily together.

The story starts out, and the two people clash, as do Elizabeth and Darcy, Mindy and Danny. But it's there, early on - a vibe like the hum from a refrigerator that tells you these two would be so good together. For Elizabeth and Darcy, their manners are quite different, yet neither one performs to anyone. Each lives according to exacting truth. But they have to overcome the barrier of disparate manners in order to realize the values they share. And Mindy and Danny? In the first episode, it becomes clear that they know each other on a deep level because each knows exactly how to cut the other to quick. Danny tells Mindy she needs to lose 15 pounds, and Mindy derides Danny for having gotten divorced. But at this point in their relationship, their feelings find expression only through insults and one-upsmanship. As the series progresses, they break down each others' walls and move in closer.

And that's the kind of romance I like. Not one that begins with a mutually immediate sexual spark, but one that begins with something...else. Some subtle hint that lets you know that these two are skating along the same wavelength, that they've got what it takes to be amazing together. It can be just one word, just one action, just one brief exchange. Like Ron's awed amazement - “Hermione!” - when she slaps Draco.

I planted my first clue that Lisa and Jack hear the same distant bongo beat in Chapter Two of my novel She Likes It Rough. It's there for anyone to see by browsing through the beginning of the book online.

Think you can find it?

And by the way, in case you love pop culture references and trivia as much as I do...

1. When Sherri Ann Cabot says, "Vice versa, I'm sure," what is she doing?

2. Who buys the toy bugle?

3. What provokes Hermione to slap Draco?

4. Who is Larry's Lizzy?