Loving Ben Affleck Can't Be Wrong
By Andrew Wallenstein
It was hard not to be star struck Sunday night, what with Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Harrison Ford, Don Cheadle and Robin Williams sharing the screen. Except I'm not talking about the Oscars; it was a howlingly funny sketch that aired after the event on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," tastefully titled "I'm F**king Ben Affleck," that managed to squeeze more A-list wattage into a few minutes than the Oscars managed in three-plus hours.
Whether Kimmel topped girlfriend Sarah Silverman's original "I'm F**king Matt Damon" is not the question here. It's what the Oscars and really all of mainstream Hollywood has to learn from the sketch, which may have premiered on TV but is likely to be seen by exponentially more viewers on YouTube, just as the "Damon" one did. After the lowest-rated Oscar in history, you have to ask yourself why many of the stars mentioned above took the time appear in this bizarre, racy sketch but didn't show up on the red carpet (the only one I remember seeing in both was Ford, who really needs to lose the earring). For A-listers whose every public appearance is quite calculated, that tells you plenty about what is more culturally relevant right now: viral video or stuffy award shows.
