Many of us still remember the days around this year's Oscar Awards ceremony, when newspapers, websites and television programmes in Shanghai were overflowing with enthusiasm for a movie awards festival thousands of miles away.

It gave us the worst gossip and speculation, and at the same time provided us with the best expectations and entertainment. Besides, there were also excitement, animosity and lengthy quarrels and discussions around it. What magic attracted our attention this way?

As one of the most famous movie awards shows in the world, the Oscars have contributed a lot to popularizing many great films: people get to know the names, characters and context of them through the various categories of awards.

When I was still living on campus, every year my friends and I would stand in front of the only television in our building, waiting to applaud the grand ceremony. The winner's list would serve as the guide to the movies worth seeing.

Many classic films, like "Roman Holiday?were introduced to us first through the Oscars. Approval by an Oscar almost equals approval by time and large audiences. This winners?list has also immortalized many masterpieces by making them shine forever as the treasured legacy of the festival.

Sometimes we are perplexed by their success. The similar themes, the similar sets, the similar actors and actress and even the similar Hollywood-style endings ?these films gave similar stimulation to our nerves. But every time, we were moved by the Oscars, by stories of love and salvation, by scenarios of struggle and faith, by a power that reaches the tender part of our minds. The secret behind it is not complicated. It is only about human nature, which can be understood by all, no matter what language one speaks.

However, today, the Oscars have also been developed into a grand business. The sponsor's name, the advertisements and trademarks can be seen everywhere accompanying the movies and movie makers. The audience seem to have shifted their focus to such things as the grand gowns the stars wear on Oscar night and the inside stories about the movies. The red carpet moments got more attention than the role of the movies. It seems that we are no longer confronted with a pure gathering of movies, but a melange of scandals and loss ratios.

We can't blame the Oscars for bringing us these changes. While I'm not sure whether these are good changes, at least they have created a global enthusiasm for the gathering of movies and stars, creating the largest business opportunity among all the movie festivals, and raising the box office for the movies.

The Oscars have brought us a picture with many discrepancies: the discrepancy between fashion and babbittry, the discrepancy between stimulation and numbness, and the discrepancy between fantasy and reality. With deeper understanding of the Oscars, I can now better tolerate its business features. After all, it's not anything holy or mysterious, but just a show which catches the attention of millions of spectators. Like it or not, we can enjoy our role as spectators. The memory of the Oscars may fade, but the impression of good films will linger in our minds for a much longer time.