Why Is The Artist a Lock for Best Picture?

„The plot of The Artist is comfortably modern, too. The subject is celebrity. A middle-aged man whose time, we’re told, has passed, loses it while a cute young tootsie attains it. Never underestimate the resonance of self-pity in Hollywood, especially self-pity with regard to aging and the relentless onrush (wave upon wave) of the young. Forgotten by the fickle public, George Valentin is nonetheless adored by his valet/chauffeur, who works for him without pay, his dog (who is basically a smaller, cuter version of his valet/chauffeur), and the woman who can’t quit him. It’s a lovely narcissistic fantasy — trying to drink yourself to death in response to being ignored but getting saved by those for whom you’re still the center of the world. There isn’t an actor in Hollywood who can’t relate.