Why do WE Care About Oscars?

After Kim Basinger, Shakespeare in Love and Crash won....why do we still care about these awards as film fans?

This isn't like sports.

A team winning the World Cup, US OPEN, Nba Finals or Heavyweight bout...they EARNED that. In the rare instance there might be a dodgy ref call...but it is mostly DESERVED.

We all know Julianne Moore deserved the award over Kim Basinger. We all know Saving Private Ryan deserved it over Shakespeare in Love. And we all know ANY film deserved it over Crash.

Awards are GIVEN as well as BOUGHT AND PAID FOR. The moment I learned you had to campaign for these awards and you couldn't just sit down, do nothing and be rightfully awarded for your talents...that's when I knew awards by definition are a sham.

Enjoy the films you like, and don't wait for an award show to give your view any validation.