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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/03/ellen-degeneres-selfie-for-the-win-oscars-memes
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| Ellen's selfie for the win: the Oscars are must-meme TV and Hollywood knows it | Ellen's selfie for the win: the Oscars are must-meme TV and Hollywood knows it |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| After an arduous campaign resulted in his | After an arduous campaign resulted in his |
| 2012 re-election, Barack Obama thanked his supporters with an inspirational | 2012 re-election, Barack Obama thanked his supporters with an inspirational |
| tweet: “Four more years”. The “humblebrag” earned Obama a massive 781,436 | tweet: “Four more years”. The “humblebrag” earned Obama a massive 781,436 |
| retweets – a record high for Twitter. The president was a officially a man of the internet people, a new standard for those who matter. No wonder the Academy Awards chased the same epic goal. | retweets – a record high for Twitter. The president was a officially a man of the internet people, a new standard for those who matter. No wonder the Academy Awards chased the same epic goal. |
| Last night, of course, and on purpose, | Last night, of course, and on purpose, |
| Ellen Degeneres obliterated the hug RT’d ’round the world by tweeting a photo straight from the aisle at the Oscars. | Ellen Degeneres obliterated the hug RT’d ’round the world by tweeting a photo straight from the aisle at the Oscars. |
| Brad Pitt, Angelina, Jolie, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Lawrence, | Brad Pitt, Angelina, Jolie, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Lawrence, |
| Meryl Streep, Channing Tatum, Bradley Cooper, Jared Leto and Lupita Nyong’o, | Meryl Streep, Channing Tatum, Bradley Cooper, Jared Leto and Lupita Nyong’o, |
| fresh off her Best Supporting Actress win: they all crammed into Degeneres’s | fresh off her Best Supporting Actress win: they all crammed into Degeneres’s |
| “selfie” – that 21st-century reduction of self-portraiture that’s both groan-worthy and essential to befriending the Twitter masses. Half an hour | “selfie” – that 21st-century reduction of self-portraiture that’s both groan-worthy and essential to befriending the Twitter masses. Half an hour |
| and a couple hundred thousand retweets later, Obama’s record had been shattered | and a couple hundred thousand retweets later, Obama’s record had been shattered |
| and the internet was more or less upside-down. | and the internet was more or less upside-down. |
| “So?” says the grump waiting on the | “So?” says the grump waiting on the |
| telecast’s Nielsen ratings to publish from a dusty dot matrix printer. | telecast’s Nielsen ratings to publish from a dusty dot matrix printer. |
| So, behold: the Oscars just earned bank in | So, behold: the Oscars just earned bank in |
| the form of internet culture’s greatest currency. No, not Bitcoin. | the form of internet culture’s greatest currency. No, not Bitcoin. |
| Each year, producers, filmmakers, media | Each year, producers, filmmakers, media |
| pundits and loud-mouthed audience members damn the Academy Awards for being a | pundits and loud-mouthed audience members damn the Academy Awards for being a |
| show that serves absolutely no one. | show that serves absolutely no one. |
| The ceremony is too long, the Best Picture nominees are too “art house”, the | The ceremony is too long, the Best Picture nominees are too “art house”, the |
| host is too mean/too crass/too gentle/too stuck-up the asses of the celebrities | host is too mean/too crass/too gentle/too stuck-up the asses of the celebrities |
| he or she is supposed to be skewering. The Oscars are pointless. | he or she is supposed to be skewering. The Oscars are pointless. |
| So pointless, in fact, that nearly a | So pointless, in fact, that nearly a |
| million people anxiously waited for said host – too plugged-in, it turned out, and not in a trolly way – to post a picture on the internet. | million people anxiously waited for said host – too plugged-in, it turned out, and not in a trolly way – to post a picture on the internet. |
| Those were nearly a million people (now 2.6 million people, and counting) who | Those were nearly a million people (now 2.6 million people, and counting) who |
| were already glued to their television screens, watching live, embracing | were already glued to their television screens, watching live, embracing |
| the Oscars as must-watch TV. And you can bet they were the young people who | the Oscars as must-watch TV. And you can bet they were the young people who |
| everyone’s certain only care about superhero movies. | everyone’s certain only care about superhero movies. |
| Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron | Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron |
| came prepared to strike Internet gold this year. Sure, ratings were up in 2013, | came prepared to strike Internet gold this year. Sure, ratings were up in 2013, |
| but backlash deemed that a flub: host Seth MacFarlane antagonized audiences | but backlash deemed that a flub: host Seth MacFarlane antagonized audiences |
| with comedy “bits”, while Internet target number one Anne Hathaway was front | with comedy “bits”, while Internet target number one Anne Hathaway was front |
| and center in Les Misérables tributes, and the ceremony’s undeniably GIF-worthy | and center in Les Misérables tributes, and the ceremony’s undeniably GIF-worthy |
| moment – a one-second loop to be shared across Tumblr blogs for all eternity – | moment – a one-second loop to be shared across Tumblr blogs for all eternity – |
| was the schadenfreude pratfall of America’s sweetheart, Jennifer Lawrence. To | was the schadenfreude pratfall of America’s sweetheart, Jennifer Lawrence. To |
| be sure, 2014 would be an uphill battle to win back respect. | be sure, 2014 would be an uphill battle to win back respect. |
| Zadan and Meron knew theatrical | Zadan and Meron knew theatrical |
| showstoppers, knew spectacle of the Hollywood “golden age” ilk, but they didn’t | showstoppers, knew spectacle of the Hollywood “golden age” ilk, but they didn’t |
| know how to appeal to the Internet-savvy, an ironic and silly bunch that still | know how to appeal to the Internet-savvy, an ironic and silly bunch that still |
| savors the celebratory they’re-just-like-us vibe of the Oscars, that still | savors the celebratory they’re-just-like-us vibe of the Oscars, that still |
| influence a show’s lasting impact as much as Us Weekly readers pack a | influence a show’s lasting impact as much as Us Weekly readers pack a |
| supermarket checkout line. | supermarket checkout line. |
| The producers must have learned a | The producers must have learned a |
| thing or two from their tremendous hit, Sound of Music Live!, a true TV | thing or two from their tremendous hit, Sound of Music Live!, a true TV |
| event that remained faithful to the musical’s spirit while winking an eye at | event that remained faithful to the musical’s spirit while winking an eye at |
| its own stupidity. Their live musical demanded “live-tweeting” from on-lookers, dropping in hashtags, flooding YouTube with short promos, and promising an “Is this really happening?” level of camp. Likewise, last night’s Oscars weren’t waiting for the web to meme-ify – the show flipped the switches, provoked the stars in their midst, prefabbed the GIFs and spelled out the hashtags. And it all worked, for once. | its own stupidity. Their live musical demanded “live-tweeting” from on-lookers, dropping in hashtags, flooding YouTube with short promos, and promising an “Is this really happening?” level of camp. Likewise, last night’s Oscars weren’t waiting for the web to meme-ify – the show flipped the switches, provoked the stars in their midst, prefabbed the GIFs and spelled out the hashtags. And it all worked, for once. |
| Ellen’s built-in Twitter appeal didn’t | Ellen’s built-in Twitter appeal didn’t |
| hurt, but the group photo was only the beginning. Dishing out pizza to Hollywood’s | hurt, but the group photo was only the beginning. Dishing out pizza to Hollywood’s |
| absolute A-list and watching them scarf it down in tuxedos and ballgowns? That’s the kind of oddball stunt concocted in the trenches of Reddit. (Macaulay | absolute A-list and watching them scarf it down in tuxedos and ballgowns? That’s the kind of oddball stunt concocted in the trenches of Reddit. (Macaulay |
| Culkin actually pulled the same move last December.) | Culkin actually pulled the same move last December.) |
| At one point, Ellen popped out from behind Leonardo DiCaprio – controlled chaos | At one point, Ellen popped out from behind Leonardo DiCaprio – controlled chaos |
| frozen in time, prepared especially for the now image-heavy Twitter. | frozen in time, prepared especially for the now image-heavy Twitter. |
| The rest of the show fed off Ellen’s meme | The rest of the show fed off Ellen’s meme |
| energy. A noticeable extension of the acceptance speech time limits paved the | energy. A noticeable extension of the acceptance speech time limits paved the |
| way for inspirational quotes (to be inevitably plastered, LOLcat-style, over | way for inspirational quotes (to be inevitably plastered, LOLcat-style, over |
| telecast screencaps in the AM) and snippets of social fun, like Cate Blanchett | telecast screencaps in the AM) and snippets of social fun, like Cate Blanchett |
| and Julia Roberts’s hashtag in-joke “#SuckIt”. It didn’t hurt that seats were assigned to maximize internet darlings: sprinkled | and Julia Roberts’s hashtag in-joke “#SuckIt”. It didn’t hurt that seats were assigned to maximize internet darlings: sprinkled |
| throughout the selfie participants were Benedict Cumberbatch (overlord of the | throughout the selfie participants were Benedict Cumberbatch (overlord of the |
| Cumberbitches), | Cumberbitches), |
| the object of the web’s affection, Michael Fassbender, and Matthew McConaughey, | the object of the web’s affection, Michael Fassbender, and Matthew McConaughey, |
| who spouted his own viral catchphrase, “All right, all right, all right”, | who spouted his own viral catchphrase, “All right, all right, all right”, |
| during his acceptance speech. | during his acceptance speech. |
| Forget if the Academy Awards “gets it | Forget if the Academy Awards “gets it |
| right” or not – this is an awards show that’s evolving in the right direction. It is | |
| a telecast for an Academy sporting members like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lena | a telecast for an Academy sporting members like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lena |
| Dunham and Milla Jovovich, who use social media to interact directly with their | Dunham and Milla Jovovich, who use social media to interact directly with their |
| fans and use it well. If the Oscars want a legitimate audience down the road – 2.6 million and many, many more watching live, plugged-in and laughing with the audience – then siphoning Twitter | |
| followers is a must. Making a tweet count is a thankless task, but it’s not | followers is a must. Making a tweet count is a thankless task, but it’s not |
| impossible. There’s a middle ground between rigid rituals filled with overly | impossible. There’s a middle ground between rigid rituals filled with overly |
| written banter … and factory-manufactured, legitimately buzzworthy skits. The | written banter … and factory-manufactured, legitimately buzzworthy skits. The |
| 2014 Academy Awards figured out how to juggle both and reap the retweets: let | 2014 Academy Awards figured out how to juggle both and reap the retweets: let |
| the stars loose. #NoJoke. | the stars loose. #NoJoke. |