Keeping it in proportion

Now I know the Oscars are important to the film industry, even more so in the current financial meltdown. They increase profitability of nominated films, guarantee success for winners and make raising future finance that bit easier for those who can put a gold statuette on their CV.

But let us get it in proportion. Film stars, directors and so on are not minor deities, they are people very well paid for doing a rather pleasant job who hope their work will be recognised by their peers at the various industry trade awards of which the Oscars is the biggest.

A BBC interviewer flown out to Los Angeles along with, no doubt, a few planeloads of other staff enjoying a jolly, was gushing on excitedly about what a privilege it had been to interview Kate Winslet.

Perhaps someone could point out to her that the reason she was in California at the licence payers' expense in the first place was to actually interview people such as Ms Winslet. It's called her job and no disrespect to Ms Winslet, who thoroughly deserved her Oscar, but at the end of the day she is an actress and as such needs publicity and interviews like the rest of us need air so it does not exactly need a gut busting effort on the part of any interviewer to get her to speak to the BBC.