I'll be honest. I feel duped. I pride myself on being a cynic, but somewhere along the way I got my hopes up only to have them trounced upon once again.
The reason for my heartbreak? No, it's not a girl, it's actually this year's abhorrent crop of movies. I say I've been duped because last year -- a year that marked the releases of such greats as "Magnolia," "Being John Malkovich" and "American Beauty" -- ultimately proved to be nothing more than a tease.
On the other hand, it took nothing more than a viewing of last Sunday's Emmy Awards to realize that there is some great material being broadcast on a weekly basis on television. I watch a fair share of television, and more than my share of movies, and lately I have started to wonder: is TV better than the movies right now?
Television is often looked upon as the bastard medium of the arts, but the dearth of quality movies seen over the last nine months suggest that this snobbery needs a major overhaul. After careful consideration, it looks like TV treats its actors better than movies.
For instance, where are all of the good women's roles in film? I can only think of one knockout female role of the last year, Julia Roberts in "Erin Brockovich." And there hasn't been another great role in the following six months. No wonder the last two Best Actress Oscar winners, Gwyneth Paltrow and Hilary Swank, won for playing women who disguised themselves as men.
But television has provided a wealth of fascinating female characters, some of whom are even (gasp!) over 40. There's Amy Brenneman ("Judging Amy"), Laura Innes ("ER"), Annie Potts ("Any Day Now") and Sela Ward ("Once and Again") on the dramatic side. Situation comedies on television have also given us rich performances by Calista Flockhart ("Ally McBeal"), Patricia Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond") and Jane Kaczmarek ("Malcolm in the Middle"). No wonder such movie stars as Geena Davis and Bette Midler have headed for the small screen this fall.
Television does not only show more respect to its distaff half; older generations are also more prevalent on television. In the last year only Richard Farnsworth has played a lead in a feature film ("The Straight Story"), but on television Peter Boyle ("Raymond"), Tyne Daly ("Amy"), Stacy Keach ("Titus") Doris Roberts ("Raymond") and Dick Van Dyke ("Diagnosis: Murder"), all of whom are in their golden years, played prominent roles in their respective series.
I'm not saying that TV has it all over film in this battle. In theaters, "Boys Don't Cry" was an acute portrayal of the life of a homosexual, but "The Next Best Thing" was not. And TV has definitely scored with both "Will and Grace" and the TV movie "If These Walls Could Talk 2."
TV also has light years to go in terms of representing the African-American community, but I must say that I'll take miniseries like "The Corner" any day of the week over a movie like Big Momma's House."
And here's another complaint about movies today. Where's the romance? Adult hormones abound on "Dharma and Greg," "ER," "Frasier," "Friends," "Once and Again" and "The West Wing," but I'd be lying if I said that I saw one romance this year that would stand the test of time. The situation is not any different for teens. The recent failures of "Boys and Girls," "Here on Earth" and "Loser" did not translate to a trend on television however. "Dawson's Creek" and "Popular" continue to grow in ratings.
I know I sound partial to television, but the truth is that I am just as big a fan of movies; I just think they need a good scolding to get their act together and treat their actors right.
When they do, film can be considered a medium well done.
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