MA 111 — Worksheet 3.1Read this article fromwildcat.arizona.edu/wildlife/oscars/will-the-hurt-locker-be-grossly-overlooked-1.1224670,printed in the Kentucky Kernel, March 8, 2010:Will ‘The Hurt Locker’ be grossly overlooked?No one ever said a movie about a bomb squad in Iraq would do booming business.And it hasn’t.If Kathryn Bigelow’s war drama, “The Hurt Locker,” wins the best picture Os-car Sunday night, not only will its producers earn some gold statuettes, they’llhave the dubious distinction of having made the lowest-grossing film to nail theacademy’s top honor in more than 50 years. To date, “The Hurt Locker” hasgrossed a mere $12.6 million domestically, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.Even with foreign grosses of $7.3 million tossed in for good measure, “The HurtLocker’s” worldwide box office is still hurting.The last time a best picture winner made less was in 1955, when “Marty” grossed$3 million domestically. Adjust “Marty’s” grosses for inflation, however, and theytranslate to $23.77 million, which still tops “The Hurt Locker.”Not that academy members have been looking at dollar signs in recent yearswhen marking the best picture b ox on their Oscar ballots. The 2005 drama“Crash,” which grossed only $54.6 million domestically, was the lowest-grossingbest picture winner since “The Last Emperor” in 1987 (its U.S. take was only$44 million). And “No Country for Old Men,” which won two years ago, toppedout at $74.3 million. Even 2004’s “Million Dollar Baby” just barely tipped the$100-million mark.Of course, a win for “The Hurt Locker” is hardly a lock. It faces stiff competitionfrom “Avatar,” whose victory, ironically, would make it the highest-grossing bes tpicture winner of all time. Although Scarlett O’Hara might say “fiddle-dee-dee”to that. Adjust the previous 81 winners’ grosses for inflation, and “Gone Withthe Wind” is still the all-time champ with a domestic gross of $1.537 billion.Even Rhett Butler would give a damn about that.1Answer the following questions using the Annual CPI table provided(from ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/cpi/cpiai.txt).1. Adjust the gross take for “Marty” for inflation, expressing the result in 2010 dollars,and compare to the figure given in the article.2. Adjust the gross takes for “Crash,” “The Last Emperor,” “No Country for Old,” and‘Million Dollar Baby” for inflation.3. “Gone with the Wind” came out in 1939. Express its gross take in 1939 dollars. Whymight your number not accurately reflect its gross take in 1939?2U.S. Department Of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index, All UrbanConsumers — (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, 1982–84=100.Year Annual CPI1913 9.91914 10.01915 10.11916 10.91917 12.81918 15.11919 17.31920 20.01921 17.91922 16.81923 17.11924 17.11925 17.51926 17.71927 17.41928 17.11929 17.11930 16.71931 15.21932 13.71933 13.01934 13.41935 13.71936 13.91937 14.41938 14.11939 13.91940 14.01941 14.71942 16.31943 17.31944 17.61945 18.0Year Annual CPI1946 19.51947 22.31948 24.11949 23.81950 24.11951 26.01952 26.51953 26.71954 26.91955 26.81956 27.21957 28.11958 28.91959 29.11960 29.61961 29.91962 30.21963 30.61964 31.01965 31.51966 32.41967 33.41968 34.81969 36.71970 38.81971 40.51972 41.81973 44.41974 49.31975 53.81976 56.91977 60.61978 65.2Year Annual CPI1979 72.61980 82.41981 90.91982 96.51983 99.61984 103.91985 107.61986 109.61987 113.61988 118.31989 124.01990 130.71991 136.21992 140.31993 144.51994 148.21995 152.41996 156.91997 160.51998 163.01999 166.62000 172.22001 177.12002 179.92003 184.02004 188.92005 195.32006 201.62007 207.3422008 215.3032009 214.5372010
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