My Ever-changing 'Oscartude'

The Academy Awards is, without a doubt, one of the most highly-regarded award shows in the world. It is the award show with which award shows in many other disciplines are modelled. The award itself-the Oscar- is a coveted prize, presented to only the most talented of the actors, directors, and screenplay writers of the Film industry by an academy of over 5000 professionals. For me, however, the Oscars has always been less about the movies, and more about the glamour.
For most of my life, watching the Academy Awards has meant little more than pretty dresses-fashion hits and fashion misses that make for some great material for the next day's hour-long special episode of "Fashion Police".  In fact, I'd even watch the Red Carpet special and change to MTV or Food Network Canada before the actual ceremony had even started.The Oscars are one of the most important evenings in fashion every year, a night of luxurious couture gowns and finely tailored tuxes, and to me they were nothing more.
Maybe it's my newfound adulthood, or University life serving to make me more cultured, but this year seemed to mark a change in my Oscar attitude (oscartude). Because of my history as a ballet dancer, I was very interested in Watching one of this year's Oscar-nominated films-The Black Swan. This seemed to open my eyes to the world of the Academy, as I ended up watching several other nominated films, including The King's Speech, and 127 Hours. I found myself on the edge of my seat as the winners were announced for the best actors and actresses. By the time the festivities were over, I found that I had been watching television for over five hours straight (maybe not the healthiest new obsession).
Other than my experience this Oscar Season, there was one other moment for me when the Oscars meant something more to me than fashion. In 2001 when Halle Berry won the coveted title of "Best Actress" for her performance in Monster's Ball, I remember my mother telling me that this was a historical moment-this marked the first time an African-American woman has ever won the award for Best Actress. That night, she was not just winning for herself, but for the entire African-American community.
It's interesting how quickly one's Oscartude can change. For me, it seemed to take familiarizing myself with the performances being nominated to really get myself interested. By this time next year, I may be planning an Oscar party, and making bets on the winners. I may, however, be stuck in my old Oscar rut if there are no ballet-themed films to initially spike my interest.