The Oscars! -- and underdogs

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"The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people."
- Deuteronomy 7:7

The Underdog
The Little Engine That Could
Rocky

The 2010 Oscars are about to occur.
And yes, I will be waking up at 3 AM to watch them, here in Israel.



We all love rooting for the little guy.

That's why many of us want to see "The Hurt Locker" beat "Avatar" for Best Picture.

Sure, the former is probably the best film that's been made about America's latest ridiculous war,
and it's extremely well-acted and written...
but where the hell are the blue cat people???

Also, "The Hurt Locker" is smarter that "Avatar".

"Avatar" is a simple, predictable story

... and it made the most money ever!

To put it in perspective (in domestic dollars $$$), "The Hurt Locker" made 1.8% what "Avatar" made.
Fern Gully on acid made 59.5 times what Wartime Bomb Detonators made:
$714 million... to almost $13 million.



That's rough.
If "Hurt Locker" did win that would be a bigger upset than "Gandhi" ($53 million) defeating "E.T." ($359 million) back in 1982.


And is it all about money?

Kinda.
But not completely.
Of the 30 previous films to win Best Picture (1979-2008), only 12 were the highest grossing nominee. So there!
(thanks boxofficemojo.com)


Besides, that's why we watch.
That's why we love the Spartans in "300", the Jamaican Bobsled team in "Cool Runnings," Daniel Larusso in "Karate Kid", Sam and Frodo in "LOTR" ... or the 2004 Boston Red Sox or Spud Webb or the Israelites from the books of Exodus to Deuteronomy.

We like rooting for the little guy!
We want to see him make it to the Promised Land (i.e., the award, the big game, the girl or... well, in the case of the Israelites- literally the "promised land")

Because each of us has felt like the underdog at some point in (or for most of) our lives... we root for 'em!

We also root for William Wallace in "Braveheart" (which won the big trophy in 1996, over the higher-grossing "Apollo 13"... fyi).

(... and before Mel Gibson lost his g.d. mind)

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