I don't understand-Why did this win Best Pic of 1983?

I recall that 1983 was not a great year of films. "The Right Stuff" came out but for some reason, it didn't take off at the box office. I think it was because in 1983, there wasn't a lot of interest in astronauts or the space program. If it had been made 10 years later, I think it would have been a big hit.

Late in 1983, there was no clear front runner for Best Picture until "Terms of Endearment" exploded right around Thanksgiving. Think what you will of it now, at the time of its release, "Terms of Endearment" was huge. It's hard today to fathom today where films come and go so quickly but "Terms of Endearment" was (like a lot films back then) more than a bit of a phenomenom and stayed in theaters for months. It was really big. And it is a good movie. It's strongest element is the acting especially by Winger. The weakest element is the direction which is kind of all over the place (a style that would show it's weakness in Brooks successive films). The movie's "feel" was unique at the time and I myself admire it's restraint. It's a very manipulative movie but somehow restrains from going over the top. The god awful film version of "Steel Magnolias" was clearly made to outdo "Terms of Endearment" and is a case study in the kind of hit-them-over-the-head method of film making (the same director of "Steel Magnolias" also directed the sequel to "Terms of Endearment").

It was deeply emotional without being all that deep in other ways; it had a soapy storyline but wasn't a soap; and it appealed to women and men almost equally. To put it another way, it was a "weepie" that even a man could enjoy. I was one of them.

Also, everyone in the movie, all the grownups anyway, were messed up emotionally to one degree or another and I think this struck a chord in the zeitgeist, which is to say the spirit of the time. A lot of people, young and old, were having to come to terms with serious changes in their lives back then,--and yes, I know that this is happening all the time--and Terms Of Endearment was a very American and very contemporary take on all of this and on how people cope.

That the movie is also about very self-absorbed and self-indulgent people was also a factor in its success. I'm not writing this to condemn the characters in the film, just pointing this out. Nor do I think that this phenomenon is by any means rare. In many respects this is the American Way, and Terms Of Endearment is a very American movie. It was made by and for Americans. In this it's different from many mainstream films of the new Millennium in not being daring, envelope pushing, international (or "international", as the case may be), or inclusive.

Terms of Endearment is not a favorite movie of mine, and after only a couple of years after I saw it in the theater I found it unwatchable on its first TV airing. It dated fast. Or did for me. The times were changing quickly back in the Reagan era, and the touchy-feelyness of the film would soon be out of step of the more steely, workout-driven and materialistic tone of those years. It's almost as if America, in a rather short period of time, outgrew this most American of movies.

Many people still love it. I suppose there are many young people who are discovering it for the first time. Good for them. I hope that what to me now feels corny can feel fresh and wonderful for someone less jaded than myself.