An Obama victory helps The Dark Knight?

I apologise for the tardiness on this one. I read this entry a few days ago, and it struck me as an odd argument to make. Here's a passage:

Usually I'm not the kind of guy who thinks that outside events have too much influence on the Oscar race. I generally think it's about the movies, more or less in a vacuum. But I do think that this week's election-day results may have a profound effect on the Best Picture chances of two films. For starters, there's The Dark Knight. I thought the sequence involving the two ferries (in which a group of commuters and a group of convicts have the power to blow up each others' boats but don't) was a bit too reality-show-ish for my taste. But I know most viewers loved it. Either way, that part of the film speaks to the innate goodness of human behavior. And let's remember that Oscar ballots are due next January 12, just a week before Barack Obama is inaugurated. It's safe to say most Hollywood types will also see that event as an example of innate human goodness. All of this only helps The Dark Knight's chances, don't you think?

I respect Dave Karger's work, but this line of reasoning strikes me as illogical. For starters, though one part of the film spoke to innate human goodness, there were other parts of the film that spoke to human badness (whether innate or not). Moreover, his argument presumes that most (even some) academy award members interpreted that particular scene as he did. Moreover, it presumes that most (even some) academy award voting members will interpret Obama's inauguration as an example of innate human goodness. I'm guessing that most academy award members probably weren't thinking along those lines.

When I first read the headline, I thought Dave might argue that the concept of "change" (a concept crucial to Obama's campaign) would influence ampas memebers. In that, if American voters were able to embrace the idea of voting for an African American president, then we can certainly embrace the idea of voting for an atypical movie. This argument makes slightly more sense, but I'm confident both will not resonate in the minds of ampas members.