THE OSCARS

Several weeks ago I posted about my love-hate relationship with the Super Bowl. My relationship with the Oscars is a bit more extreme. 

In thinking about what I should write about the Oscars, I could think of nothing that has not been said before. Here's a checklist:

It's boring - nothing new there  

It's phony - yup

The speeches drag on - been there 

It's over-hyped - done that

So, I find myself at a loss for new commentary about this American institution that rivals the Miss America Pageant in banality.

I group those events with many of the wedding shows that litter the airways, featuring hyper-bitchy brides-to-be doing their best to send their fiances packing prior to their wedding day. The action and dialog, presented as normalcy and packaged as reality, are truly remarkable.

A refreshing change from the ordinary is a reality show called "My Big Redneck Wedding" on CMT. 

I'm not kidding.

For the uninitiated, this is a show about ordinary people planning and having ordinary weddings. The people featured in the show are not what one would call glamorous. Quite the contrary, they are people who, if judged by popular opinion, would go down in flames. They are the very antithesis of Hollywood types.

It's very easy for any of us to be negatively judgmental about those who are featured in the show, given that they are so different from mainstream people. I'll go out on a limb and say that that is probably the intent of the show's producers. If we are to judge them, however, let's be fair about it. All of us can learn something from other people and the people shown on "My Big Redneck Wedding" are no exception.

Generally, they are close to their friends and families and are accepting of people's imperfections and are respectful of their parents, grandparents and children. Are they without faults? Not even close.

They are real.

Within their reality is the unpretentious act of having a greased pig at the wedding, of driving their trucks and ATV's through a mud pit, of engaging in mud wrestling - sometimes involving the bride and groom, of being married by the guy who works at the local foundry, of having a cooler full of Miller Lite and Budweiser beers for the attendees, of eating barbecued pork and chicken with no napkins, of hay bales for church pews inside a makeshift tent, and of arriving at the wedding in a tractor.

How truly refreshing.

Let's rewind to the Oscars:

"The envelope, please" 

"And the Oscar goes to..." 

"I'd like to thank..."

Readers, enjoy your day.