Shut the Eff Up, Hollywood!

The road to the Oscars is paved with griping, grumbling and bad attitudes — but it doesn’t have to be that way

In Hollywood, awards season is the season of complaining. There are times when I have to stop and tell myself to just shut up. Why? Because I catch myself kvetching too much. We’re all guilty of it — and we all have to stop.

Here are five things Hollywood loves to whine about and why the moaning and groaning must come to an end.

The shortened awards season isn’t as bad as everyone wants you to believe.

Sure, deadlines have been squeezed, and it does feel like we’re on a hamster wheel trying to get everything done because the Academy pushed the 2020 Oscars to Feb. 9. But let’s be honest — if the season were as long as it usually is, we’d be complaining about, well, how long it is. So, enjoy the shorter timeline, book a vacation in February or get a head start on planning for SXSW.

Awards season means a lot of parties.

From glitzy red-carpet galas to more intimate tastemaker screenings and receptions, there’s so much you could do on any given night. But how many times have we heard ourselves sighing about how tired we are, that party-hopping is so exhausting, valet lines are too crowded and the food at many — if not most — of these events is either bland or too scarce. There’s no doubt that late nights can encroach on our sleep, and getting up in the morning can be tough. But we’re talking about parties and screenings. It may be work, but getting paid to attend parties and screenings isn’t exactly hard labor. Just remember to hydrate and keep your alcohol consumption to a minimum.

Netflix is not the grim reaper of cinema and the multiplex.

Can we just stop debating whether the streamer is going to kill movies as we know them? The fact is, it’s financing a ton of films. Forget whether you like “The Irishman” or not: Martin Scorsese wouldn’t have been able to make his movie without Netflix money. His longtime home, Paramount, refused to finance the pricey pic. So Netflix has every right to release it as it sees fit. If audiences want to watch it at home — or even on their iphone or iwatch — so be it. It may feel like the streamer has hijacked the season because “The Irishman,”“marriage Story” and to a lesser extent “The Two Popes” have proved strong contenders for Oscar recognition. Maybe that’s due in part to Netflix’s aggressive and extravagant campaigns, but I believe it’s because people really do like the movies. In other words, if you’re not a fan of streaming, cancel your subscriptions, get off the couch and head to a theater — but please stop trying to convince us that Netflix is the devil.

The Globes are more important than we like to admit.

As much as we chide the HFPA membership for a fondness for swag and selfies with celebrities, studios and awards consultants bend over backward to make them happy. If the Globes were just a boozy party and not an awards show with cred, then why does everyone wake up at the crack of dawn for its nominations announcement? Why does everyone show up at the Hilton for the big show? And why do all the studios spend big money for their after-parties? It’s because, like it or not, the Globes matter.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Looking back to the end of summer and the beginning of fall, there was much hand-wringing about awards season being a dud and uninspiring because the movies on the horizon didn’t appear very strong. We hear this every year, and it never proves true. Not all awards season hopefuls make it past Telluride or Toronto (yeah, I’m talking to you,“goldfinch”), but we’re never left without plenty of Oscar-worthy films and performances.

As we inch closer to the 2020 Oscars, remember to breathe and take it all in. Try to remember that things aren’t as bad as you think they are.

In other words, stop complaining. And I will too.

“If you’re not a fan of streaming, cancel your subscriptions, get off the couch and head to a theater — but stop trying to convince us that Netflix is the devil.”