Last year, comedian Chris Rock hosted the 2005 Academy Awards and there’s a good reason for this – television audiences were getting bored.

The red carpet only takes you so far before you have to start shaking things up a little bit to keep the annual ceremony unique and interesting.

So why not throw into the mix an edgy, black comedian who’s well-known for sticking it to socialites to get ratings back up?

Well, it worked.

Audiences loved it. Ratings went up and people had fun.

So, is it so outlandish to expect the same sort of variation in Best Picture nominees?

Last year, with exception of the sleeper-comedy hit “Sideways,” the competition was, well, boring. There was a story about a female boxer, Howard Hughes and his outlandish projects, a biopic about Ray Charles and the true story behind “Peter Pan.” Sounds like a weekly lineup on the History Channel.

And already this year, another biopic about gender equality in a dismal mining town has been predicted to be the 2006 front-runner.

Now, I’m not going to say some of these movies weren’t interesting, or even Oscar-worthy, but whatever happened to old-fashioned, fun, well-made movies?

Is our country already so inbred in its politics that we can’t even escape diplomatic presence for a couple of hours to get away from reality and enjoy blowing things up or watching a couple of nitwits take a road trip or a group of 30-something men start a frat?

A trend has become apparent in recent years about what has been considered “worthy.” The nomination boards, built upon the latent Hollywood aristocracy, have decided nominated films must contain a lesson about controversial political/societal/gender views in one way or another.

When I saw the gray-scaled images of the recent “North Country” immediately coupled with some obscure critic’s prediction of an Oscar nomination, my heart sank a little deeper into the abyss.

It seems once again we aren’t going to be spared another wave of self-righteous filmmakers who make these types of movies simply to receive recognition from the blowhard demographic.

So, in my own self-conceived responsibility to the entertainment industry, I am calling all those who have been so good at making us laugh – mainly the Farrelly brothers and Vince Vaughn – to step up to the plate and offer a more light-hearted alternative to the Stephen E. Ambrose book that our theaters have become.

Obviously, I can’t speak for everyone – I’m sure there are some people out there who feel that paying $6.50 to be reminded about rape in the blue-collar work place is a worthwhile expense – but I feel a more diverse population needs to be recognized and even commended in Hollywood’s brightest spotlight.

Some past interesting films to receive Best Picture nominations: “Top Hat” in 1935 (if this one didn’t make you feel all fuzzy inside, you’re dead); “The Wizard of Oz” in 1939 (very trippy stuff); “Taxi Driver” in 1976 (come on, it’s De Niro); and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1975 (Nicholson was the ultimate rebel and tragic hero – it won, by the way).

– Alex Switzer is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Shelburne, Vt. He is a senior reporter for Pulse.