Oscar boss says show must go on

Oct 16, 2001 by Ian Evans

“The Oscars will go on next March.”

That’s the simple message contained in an article written for Variety by Frank Pierson, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that presents the yearly Academy Awards®.

Mentioning that life went on after major historical events like the stock market crash of 1929, Pearl Harbor, the Korean War, the assassination of JFK and the Vietnam War, Pierson adds that “The celebration of artistic accomplishments may not be the highest priority in a time of national trauma, but the Academy Awards, with all their pomp and history and, yes, occasional foolishness, are a quintessentially American activity, and the right to carry on our thousand of less-than-earthshaking activities — our football games, our state fairs, our conventions — is a large part of why we’re fighting terrorists today.”