Is optimism rejected by movie critics as unserious?
Pitchford: I think so. I wish I knew why. In Hollywood, there’s this incredible misconception that when something is really, really sad and down, it’s very hard to do. And when something is incredibly entertaining, it couldn’t have been very hard to do. When Nicole Kidman won the [Best Actress] Oscar [for her role in The Hours] over Renee Zellweger [for her performance in Chicago]”and I loved The Hours”but people were making such a big deal out of how difficult and torturous and lofty The Hours was whereas because Chicago looked like it must have been so much fun to shoot, you know, now it’s time to give the award to the people who had to wear the prosthetics because apparently making Chicago was its own reward. There is this tendency to dismiss something that looks like it was done effortlessly. Show me two comedies in the last 20 years that were nominated for Best Picture. There’s this impression that drama is [inherently] hard. Or a certain type of drama”? Pitchford: Yes”people have
