AFI's 10 Best of 2007 and Knocked Up

So the American Film Institute announced its ten best films of the year this past Monday (http://www.afi.com/tvevents/afiawards07/default.aspx). I have to say that I am overjoyed. In my last post I mentioned that I hoped Knocked Up would get a nomination from the Hollywood Foreign Press. Well, there was no such luck. But it showed up on AFI's list. Knocked Up, if you remember, was the sleeper hit of the summer with then unknown actors Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen. Since then Heigl has won an Emmy and Rogen has continued to work with Knocked Up director Judd Apatow on the summer's other comedic hit Superbad. What does a comedic director, actor, writer, etc. have to do this in town to get some respect? As Rodney Dangerfield used to say, "I get no respect!" If you look at just the past 25 years, not one film that has won the Oscar for best picture has been a comedy. Heck, are comedies even nominated? I think that Academy voters need to adjust what they think is best picture material and expand their minds. Why does something have to be a period piece, a political commentary, or violent just to get a nomination? Isn't the point of going to the movies to be entertained? And isn't laughing a sign that you are entertained? I am not saying that all comedies are alike. I am not a fan of the Naked Gun series, the movie Airplane, or even more recent films like Dumb and Dumber. My husband tells me I don't have a sense of humor-I can't tell if he is joking or not. But I feel that a movie is Oscar worthy when it stays with you long after you have left the theater. And I don't mean torture porn movies that give you nightmares. I mean that it affects your daily way of thinking. It makes you examine your relationships. It expands your mind. Maybe I am being dramatic. I was in the last trimester of my pregnancy when I saw Knocked Up. So it obviously hit a cord with me. But it turned stars into Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen. It continued Judd Apatow and gang's success that began with The 40-Year Old Virgin. So like I said, what does a comedic professional have to do in Hollywood to get a little respect??!!!