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Let's look back, for a moment, at the last two comedies that have won the Oscar for Best Picture. If we are working under the assumption that The Artist is going to win Best Picture this year (and if you are working under a different assumption then there is something wrong with you), then it will be added to a very small list of true comedies that have taken home the big prize. Some films have had comedic elements to them, such as The King's Speech, American Beauty, and Forrest Gump, but none of those films were as driven by comedy as The Artist is, or as Chicago and Shakespeare in Love were.

Both Chicago and Shakespeare in Love are both much lighter in both tone and grandeur than the typical Oscar winner. Both went up against very serious, intense, epic, important films. Shakespeare in Love beat epics directed by Steven Spielberg and Terrence Malick, while Chicago overcame serious films from Martin Scorsese and Stephen Daldry. Sound familiar? So how did these two films overcome their stiff competition to become Best Picture winners?

Both films evoke a specific time period, Elizabethan England and Jazz-age Chicago. The Artist does the same thing with Hollywood's Golden Age. All three films are about artists overcoming adversity very specific to their time periods, and are able to make those specific stories universal. For Shakespeare in Love, the message is that love is the greatest power and inspiration in the world. For Chicago, the message is that by working the system and breaking the rules you can achieve great things. And The Artist? It is a film about being willing to change and grow, about not letting pride stand in the way of love or success. Those are all ideas that all audiences, but especially artists, can relate to.

Another important point to make is that neither of those films dominated their Oscar years, although both did well. Shakespeare in Love won seven awards, including Oscars for its its screenplay and for lead actress Gwyneth Paltrow, but it lost Best Director to Steven Spielberg for Saving Private Ryan. Chicago won six awards, but lost both Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director to The Pianist. Did the fact they they were comedies work against them in the Best Director race? Were voters reluctant to award the director of a comedy, favoring more ambitious and dramatic fare? And will that trend continue this year with The Artist? Let's look at the last categories left to be examined.

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