Oh, Oscar...

Well... I thought it was about time I acknowledged that defining cornerstone of modern culture, the Oscars.

Before even mentioning the awards themselves, I would like to point out a couple of my favourite things about this year's Oscars:

a) not having to stay up until the early hours to see it through (thank you, Eastern Standard Time) and

b) actually having seen a fair number of the competing films (thank you Canada, for letting me in).

Despite low audience ratings, I actually loved this year's ceremony (possibly because I wasn't pinching myself to stay awake through the Best Sound Editing award at 3 am), and I think much of this was due to host Jon Stewart, quirkily hilarious presenter of The Daily Show, who managed to blend irreverent mocking humour with an appropriate (for the Oscars) dose of obsequious schmaltz.

This year's crop of Oscar outfits were collectively one of the best ever. A bit safe, perhaps, nothing much to look back on and mock, but you can't have it all, I suppose. My favourites were Cate Blanchett's purple Dries Van Noten (does that lady ever put a perfectly Louboutined foot wrong?) and Jennifer Garner's Oscar de la Renta. Classic black but very chic. And personally, I thought Diablo Cody's leopard print Dior suited her down to the ground (no pun intended) although it's probably not the best idea to wear a dress slit to the thigh when striding up to collect your award...

I wish there was more to say about the menswear. With the exception of Daniel Day Lewis and Johnny Depp, both of whom wore slight variations (adding brown!), was every man there wearing a black suit with a black tie? Snore. Personally, I always had this fantasy of accepting my Oscar wearing Topshop. However, if Chanel and Valentino were fighting over who got to dress me, I'm not sure I'd turn them down.

My favourite award win had to be Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard for Best Original Song (from the film Once, go see it NOW) Thank God they beat out all those sappy Enchanted songs. And such a cute moment when Marketa was given the chance to make her acceptance speech...

And finally, kudos to all the women who made this year's nominees and winners lists. While the men picked up their quota of gold for a slew of psychotically gory movies, women took to the podium to collect nearly half of the awards, including Original Screenplay, Sound Editing, Best Original Song, Art Direction, Documentary Short, Makeup, Costume Design and Animated Short Film, alongside Best Actress and Supporting Actress. Good going, ladies!

Garnier doubles up

A slightly freaky occurence today.

So I'm watching TV and an ad for Garnier Nutrisse Cream comes on (You know - the hair colour). It's an ad that I've seen many many times over the past year or two - beginning back in my homeland of the UK, where the product is represented by Big Brother host and perpetually pregnant yummy mummy Davina McCall. Here's the thing though - over here in Canada it's not her in the ad - it's Canadian chanteuse Chantal Kreviazuk.

And yet - the ad is EXACTLY THE SAME. The lines are the same, the direction is the same, the intonation of the words is the same, each head toss and flick of shimmering coloured hair is delivered at precisely the same point. They even look ridiculously similar. It all added up to a very spooky effect where I actually originally thought I was watching Davina McCall and wondered who in Canada would have heard of her.

No doubt this will not have much significance for anybody else. And it's probably not significant in any way past Garnier wanting to have people in the ad that the viewers will recognise. But you have to wonder - is there a Davina/Chantal lookalike in every one of Garnier's global markets? Is Davina copying Chantal or is it the other way round? Or are they both copying a Garnier-manufactured cyborg who has been specially trained in hair flicking and advising a fictitious mother on the best way to cover her grey hairs?

Makes you think...

A woman's place is in the kitchen... according to McCain (the frozen food company, not the Republican presidential candidate)

One of the things that provokes my wrath the most (and believe me, my wrath is not that easily provoked) is the sexism prevalent in advertising these days. And I'm not talking about the blatant "show skin to sell stuff" attitude.

A simple experiment - all you need to do is watch TV at any time of day (although daytime TV is a particularly bad offender) and make a note of exactly which products are targeted at men and which are targeted at women.

Go one step further. Imagine you're new to the planet Earth and then try and create a picture of each sex based on what products are aimed at them.

One ad I hate: McCain Slow Cooker Solutions, frozen stews you put in your slow cooker during the day and then come home to eat in the evening. The ad (I'm sure you've all seen it by now) shows a woman coming home to her family after work; even though her husband's already home and in the garage tinkering with the car, it's the wife that is expected to make the meal.

There's another similar campaign (it may even be for the same product) where a woman is at work and worried about doing overtime because she has to prepare dinner. Swiffer, Febreeze, endless air freshener adverts, adverts for kitchen and bathroom cleaning products, adverts for cooking, adverts for children's meals, baby products... Clearly it's assumed in the mind of the global advertising community that women care about nothing else.

And this message is a dangerous one. Advertising such as this leaches into women's minds and makes them feel like they should be spending all this time and effort cleaning and cooking - because clearly that's what every other woman in the world does - if you don't have a clean house, dinner on the table for your husband and kids, and a perfectly accessorized child with a brand-name packed lunch then you have in some way failed. With all the supposed emphasis on men contributing equally to cleaning, cooking and child care (and plenty do), isn't it about time advertising reflected this?

This is a subject that is bothering me increasingly... expect to hear more on this subject, with more examples, in the near future. Grr!

Happiness is... Stacy and Clinton

The title says it all. I love TLC's "What not to Wear" and the new season is so far shaping up to be very entertaining, with a few tweaks in format, all for the better. Last week's mother of five had a wardrobe overhaul to welcome her navy husband back to dry land and looked fantastic at the end, trading her long, ratty hair for a sleek shiny bob and her old child-like casuals for a sharp new tailored look.

Some might say that shows like WNTW are anti-feminist, stressing as they do the importance of outward appearance for women over what's on the inside. But what I love about the show is that it aims to make each one of its subjects feel fantastic about themselves, regardless of weight or age. Stacy and Clinton find the positive points of everyone and make them understand that anyone can look great - you don't have to be a size 0, 20 years old and 5'10".

In today's looks-obsessed society, where women are routinely judged for their age, wrinkles, number of children, waist size, chest size and about a hundred other things, it's refreshing to find a show that doesn't care about physical attributes. S & C always end up boosting the self esteem of the participant and send them home looking 100% better.

Take Clinton's Smart Shopping Quiz here, or check out fashion tips and see makeovers on the main site. I don't know about you, but I always want to cuddle Clinton (or possibly take him home for some soup) and steal Stacy's hair (and most of her clothes) for myself.

Along a similar line, I always end up slightly irked by "10 Years Younger", another TLC regular, now vamped up for primetime evening viewing with three subjects per programme. Although it usually includes a mix of men and women (and thank God for that, or I'd be here all night venting), it's completely the opposite to WNTW in terms of attitude.

The whole concept behind the show is that it's better to look younger rather than just looking fabulous however old you are. It sends subjects off for radical dental restructuring, Botox, Restylane injections and chemical peels, stopping just short of lipo and breast implants. Eek. Not to mention each show's clients are generally subjected to a Dr. Phil-like emotional grilling about their tragic lives before they're allowed the makeover. Horrid.