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Comment by parodysbird | Hacker News Reader

I enjoy Oscar bait films and Michelin star restaurants. Oscar bait film season (winter) is the main season I look forward to going to to the movies, not summer (blockbuster season). But it's not some attack on mainstream culture just because there are awards for niche/elite/artsy/etc culture. Similarly, just because the Nobel for literature goes to a niche literary author you don't know/like doesn't demean whatever your reading preferences are.

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> Similarly, just because the Nobel for literature goes to a niche literary author you don't know/like doesn't demean whatever your reading preferences are.

You know how things work. The media starts to chant about how great those winners are, with only a few seriously digging into the actual works. They are quickly followed by internet trolls who derail every discussion by insisting that these are masterpieces certified by big-name committees, claiming that we, the lowly masses, must accept the decisions of the great authority as the absolute truth of our lives.

Every awards season is like this, and I now hate awards

> They are quickly followed by internet trolls who derail every discussion by insisting that these are masterpieces certified by big-name committees, claiming that we, the lowly masses, must accept the decisions of the great authority as the absolute truth of our lives.

Who does this with the Nobel Prize on literature? I've not even heard of any of the previous winners on until Bob Dylan in 2016.

Even with the Oscars, like who is demeaning the lowly masses that they must view as absolute truth that e.g. CODA or The Whale or The Power of the Dog etc are masterpieces?

They tend to be awarded only to works treating depressing subjects. Or to authors in depressing situations.

When was the last time an Oscar or a literature prize (Nobel but not only) has been awarded to something funny?

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