My compliments to all involved in the LOTR triple-threat, but there's something fishy about it. Not with the wonderful movies or the fact that they're honored but, as pointed out by folks long before me, Hollywood seems to have a problem with the assessing of honor to films that present moral conflict in ways OTHER than LOTR does it (in the realm of fantasy). An example of the problem would be the lack of honor accorded the great William Holden film "Executive Suite" (also with Barbara Stanwyck). Concerning a board fight for control of a furniture company with a respected history, it reveals the concerns of many wings of this human endeavor while never yielding either to enemy-of-the-people demonism or to "gray flannel suit" character portrayal (in that the guy devoted to the job MUST suffer in all other areas). It's a story about management concerns that indicates the possibility of handling one's working affairs in the actual REAL world with equity (as opposed to the theory that all companies are Enron... don't laugh. Maybe none of us believe this but we all know at least a couple who really do).
Also note that "Casablanca" would not disprove my thesis since it's not a consistently moral statement. To be sure, there's much that's EMOTIONALLY positive but Rick flakes out several times, as when he states that two people's problems aren't "worth a hill of beans in this crazy world". And where the film does intellectually tie thoughts and words to deeds, the specifics can be mistaken for (my patented phrase here) mere politics. The Nazi invaders are merely CONSIDERED as and understood as bad; they aren't analysed or explained (as in another little-honored film, "The Stranger", with Loretta Young and Orson Welles).
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Oddly enough, the thought that kept running through my head while reading this was "Yeah, but its still better than the Grammys." Granted, two different artforms, and that's a worthwhile debate to suggest that perhaps the auditory arts are more fleeting than the visual arts. But still ... some of the Grammys calls would seem like easy calls to make even in realtime.
Hendrix never won a Grammy in his lifetime and all he did was influence every other guitarist after him while attaining both commercial and even critical success. Granted, The Beatles did get their just due here and there.
But let's go to 1976, shall we ... three words: Starland Vocal Band. If I need to name more examples, I could always add Jethro Tull's 1988 award (I often place this in 1989 due to the timing of the awards ceremony and that year representing the pinnacle of the hard rock era ... for which Jethro Tull was denoted as the best album in this genre.)
I suppose I could take pride that at least a few virtuosos of my own preference have gotten recognition ... Steve Vai in 1993, Zappa in 1987, Metallica would get a do-over with later recorded works (1990, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2000). In some cases, a mere nomination is sufficient in the case of recognizing virtuoso performers who may not have had commercial success, but have made an impact. I think to 1985, with Yngwie Malmsteen getting a nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, only to lose to Jeff Beck (the same Jeff Beck that Yngwie would unknowingly slam when just arrived in North America and asked his thoughts on Beck ... his response: "Who's Jeff Beck?" Needless to say, it set a very bad precedent for the upstart Swede).
Perhaps its that last pitfall that just a few luminaries like Presley and Hendrix fall through. Only one album or song can win, so if they finish #2 in sales, or that there was heady competition in categories dominated by the likes of The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and others ... then it shouldn't surprise one that there's an omission on the list of worthy winners. Somebody has to be to music what Dr. J's 76ers were to basketball. Then again, in 1967, the song of the year was "Up, Up and Away" by 5th Dimenion. Dr. J would have been embarassed for whoever the rest of the nominees were. It ranked #47 on Billboard. "Light My Fire" by The Doors was #2, btw. The Beatles' "Penny Lane" (note: among my personal faves) came in at #50 and still could have kicked this song's ass.
OK, I think I'm over my quota for bashing The Grammys now. As you were.