Critiquing a perfect stranger who doesn’t get the Oscars and isn’t around anymore

Tonight I overheard a woman on the streetcar tell a friend over the phone that a movie she’d recently seen would surely get an Oscar nomination for “best film and stuff.” As much as it made me chuckle, I feel kind of bad about sharing that with you. Sure, there’s no such thing as an Oscar for Best Film and Stuff, but that doesn’t give me license to poke fun at something a stranger said a couple of hours ago.

But then again, maybe it does. I mean, I was happy to let it go until she started imitating a Hollywood actress and saying it was “a pleasure just to be nominated.” Everybody knows it’s supposed to be an honour just to be nominated, not a pleasure. One mistake is fine, but the second got me wondering where this woman ever got the idea that she was qualified to make fun of the Oscars if she couldn’t even get the terminology right.

On the one hand, we all make mistakes. Lord knows I’m not an expert on the Oscars, and if I ever become one, then I can only hope that one of my friends or loved ones will have the decency to punch me in the junk until I cancel my Oscar party. But on the other hand, this woman not only knew so little about the Oscars that an ordinary jerk like me was picking up on her mistakes, but she had the audacity to be that wrong on a phone in a public place. In that sense, I think you’ll agree that she’s fair game.

She was still on the phone when I got off the streetcar, so I can’t say for sure if she thinks it’s lame that everybody always thanks Gord when they win an award. But you know what? I like to think she does.

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