The Chris Moeller Archives

Excellence in cinematic achievement

Three cheers each for a pair of favorite actors nominated by their peers in the Motion Picture Academy early this morning-- Melissa Leo and John Hawkes. Leo got a nod as Best Supporting Actress for portraying Mark Wahlberg's mother in "The Fighter," and Hawkes received his for a supporting role in "Winter's Bone."

Leo is beloved in this space for her ongoing role as New Orleans attorney "Toni Bernette" in HBO's "Treme," and Hawkes, of course, was "Sol Star" in the HBO series "Deadwood" from 2004 to 2006. I've seen neither of the nominated films, and I'm sure they're both great, but it's impossible that either of the performances are more soulful, captivating, or indelible than the ones they've each given on their television series.

At least a decade ago, series television surpassed film as the most penetrating artistic media in the culture of the West. These characters that are mined for their subtlety, motivation, and humanity, and that are allowed to mature (or fail to mature) over, say, 50 to 60 hours of television narrative are capable of having a much greater impact on the morals, ambiance, sociocultural direction, and mood of the culture than do characters on the theater screen that experience their life and death in our active mind in often under 100 minutes, and before we're even able to gauge the feedback opinions from our viewing companions. "The Social Network" would be a well-respected bio-flick if it premiered on HBO, but "Lost," and the cultural imprint that resulted from that series, could never exist in theaters.

The quality gap in comedy is even greater than the one in drama because of the evolved effectiveness of the collaborative "writers' room" that is really inherent to television only. TV is rich with devilish jokesters in front of and behind the camera. In the film world, Judd Apatow is considered funny.

Someday winning an Emmy will carry with it an equal or greater cache and prestige than winning an Oscar, as it should be already, by and large. To say that the gap has narrowed already since the 1950s and '60s would be a tremendous understatement. The disadvantage in recognition that the great performances on television have is that television is also the dominant medium for industry promotion. Where Annette Bening's performance in "The Kids Are Alright" can be loved by all five networks and cable, Tina Fey's display of genius every Thursday night works against every channel on your cable/satellite guide other than NBC.

posted by CM @ 9:11 PM