Why the Academy Was So Fatuated with the Artist?

Paul sent me a link to Economist's commentary on the Artist, and I agreed with the viewpoint of the writer.

As "Why The Artist" shouldn't Win points out, "'The Artist' has its charms. Its pastiche is skilful, assured and sometimes witty. And few can deny the rapturous reactions of audiences and critics—though this blogger found the film irritating and tedious in equal measure. But to garland this slight and contrived feature as the best of the year is to say something sad about the state of cinema."

It seems that using the scene of Paris is not enough as in the case of Hugo and Midnight in Paris, the film has to be set in America with any foreign language expunged, preferably French. It also flatters its current audience by inviting them to revisit audiences' past, with "this charming man’s charming French accent.” Another pleasing factor lies in the fact that it is a film about a shaggy-dog story, an eternal triumphant theme to the people sitting on the Academy Board of Directors, especially when the dog is a wishbone.