Shame on you, Academy Awards. It’s been almost a year since Corey Haim died. He went out with a whimper. Broke, addicted and cohabiting with his mother, the former child star had little in common at the end of his life with the fresh-faced boy that frequented the covers of so many teen magazines, but he sure as hell deserved better than this. Earlier this evening, the Oscar committee, or whoever the hell’s in charge of such things, knowingly and willfully left him out of the In Memoriam montage. I’m not surprised, but I am saddened. The snub is further proof just how stupid, shortsighted and out of touch many in Hollywood’s inner circle are.
Once upon a time, Corey Haim meant a lot to movie fans. The vast majority of actors appear and disappear without the general public ever bothering to learn their names, but for a small window in the late 1980s, Haim’s attachment was enough to get a project greenlit. Three of his movies, The Lost Boys, Lucas and License To Drive still get extensive television airplay. More importantly, they’re adored and cherished by millions of grown-up former fanatics with a fond reminiscence of a childhood crush long faded. That memory has to be valued. To act like it’s meaningless, that it’s trumped by foolish later behaviors is offensive to anyone that’s ever derived pleasure from Haim’s work.
Elistist pricks like to think the Academy Awards are about celebrating what’s great in the movie business. To a certain extent, that’s true, but more than that, they’re about celebrating the escapist fun motion pictures bring fans the world over. If Hollywood were only filled with movies like The King’s Speech, it wouldn’t hoist nearly the same appeal. The Lost Boys is fun. It’s not trying to win an Oscar; it’s trying to entertain. Mission accomplished.
Shame on you, Academy Awards. It might feel good to act like you’re better than Corey Haim, but you’re really not. He deserved his final moment in the sun, and you took that from him. He meant more to movie fans than ninety percent of the deceased you deemed more important.
Cinema Blend will miss you, Corey Haim, and we’ve got a feeling there’s a lot more out there that feel the same way.
