Yes, it may seem unprofessional to some, but I have to admit: the purpose of awarding prizes has somehow disappeared over the decision-making of academics and critics.
It’s as if they agree that the best film, song, band, book must come from a person who is often only known to them, the experts. Just for the record. The films Il Boemo and Arvéd won the most Czech Lions in 2022. According to the Kinomaniak.cz website, 85,833 and 9,443 viewers respectively came to the cinemas last year. In the case of the first project, given the subject matter, one can talk about success, the second one definitely did not earn its keep.
And let’s go from films to the Angel Awards. As expected, these were controlled by Miro Žbirka, whom I know of course. Other nominees often eluded me (again). Maybe also because, as a member of Husák’s children’s generation, I’m generally closer to punk than to electronics. Looking into the faces of strangers, I thought: does everyone enjoy music? Listening to some of the songs didn’t give me much of an answer to my general question… Even award-winning Calin thought that academics might be confused. The singer, who lives in the Czech Republic, is a world megastar, he was “discovered” only now. Here I am writing an insignificant point for myself.
Well, for me, yesterday’s Magnesia Litera was a kind of peak of the contradiction between what the majority likes and what the experts like. Nothing against – surely good and sad – poems. Nothing against Miloš Doležal, actually a colleague, the book of 2022. But was it really not better published in the Czech Republic last year? And journalists write so many great works that Czech judges read so much? There were several of them in the nominations. And again, honestly, not a single winning book has destroyed bookstores and probably won’t. Those who do so regularly were not at all in the selection for prizes.
Are the words bestseller, blockbuster, hit, popular, most visited, best seller really undesirable for Czech critics and academics? Is commercial success a burden for the work?
Either way. Congratulations to all the award winners, as well as to the judges for their selection. And for those who also don’t know why the announcements – sometimes endlessly long – are broadcast live on TV, I promise that I will watch them even more carefully next time. I have to Without it, I often can’t describe the pictures that come to me to speed up the process from photographers directly from the halls, online, but without legends…
