Kanye had a point

I am no Kanye West fan. I haven't heard a single one of his "songs." I can't even name one. I know nothing about him aside from the fact that he's some kind of rapper or something. But when my son played back the speech Kanye gave at last night's award show, I heard part of it. It seemed like a rambling rant of sorts, during which he even admitted to being stoned at the time.

But during that speech there was one point Kanye West made that resounded with me. And that point was that he couldn't understand awards shows because they turned artists into "losers." His point was this: an artist will dedicate his life to the production of an album of music into which he put his heart and soul, only to be labeled a "loser" to whomever it was that won the award for the year's "best" album. It makes these "awards" a negative thing.

I felt the rest of his "speech" was nothing more than a self-serving rant, but that one point, I felt was right on. In singling out one song, or one album, or one video, or for that matter, one movie, or one actor/actress, or whatever, the byproduct of that "award" is to infer all other artists are losers.

I believe as did Marlon Brando and George C. Scott, that awards of this type are bogus. It's all political, which is another subject I find abhorrent. Art is something that can be shared by all. Whether it's music, movies, acting, writing, novels, etc, art is a subjective thing.  And since tastes and opinions vary, you really can't label one a winner and all others the losers. One person's favorite song, movie, book, etc, could very well be another person's most hated song, movie, book, etc.

I say get rid of these award shows. But then, they'll lose out on a money making machine, so it will never happen. Plus it promotes their products, and for those reasons these shows will endure. But Kanye's point is valid, and I agree with it.