Kieran, here. Full disclosure—Best Original Song is my least favorite category. Though the last three winners of this category have been worthy entries, this relative hot streak doesn’t overwrite the fact that the category’s mandate for existing is somewhat dubious. For every “Glory” or “Skyfall” the category of late will award many more “We Belong Together” and “Man or Muppet” level winners. That’s why when a movie song comes along that feels emotionally or architecturally integral to its film’s narrative, it’s difficult to argue against it as a winner.
That brings us to Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” from Furious 7. Look…I can already hear and see the exasperated sighs and eyerolls that accompany any advocacy for this hit as an Academy Award Winner. Its tedious ubiquity in 2015 can easily (and fairly) prompt the response of “Does it need Academy Awards advocacy on top of everything else?”
Respectability politics undeniably play a big role in resistance to an Oscar win for "See You Again” . Not simply, or even primarily because of the hip-hop thing (if it wins, it’ll be the fourth hip-hop song to cop the prize), but because of the film that houses it. Furious 7 and the entire Fast and the Furious series’ complete lack of "prestige" is difficult to refute. (I'll admit that there are a lot of ways in which this franchise is not for me. I remember being in high school when the first movie came out and feeling the schism between my lukewarm feelings and the rampant enthusiasm of many of the boys in my class - possibly indicative of other things as well, but we needn't to get too personal here).
But, due respect, you can still sense a level of excitement from everyone involved in the series. This is not an easy or common thing to claim for any franchise that is several films deep and over a decade old. There's a sincerity and deliberateness to the film's broad strokes, including Wiz Khalifa's song. Compare it to the Expendables series in which there’s a palpable weariness and lack of joy from a lot of the players both behind and in front of the camera. A general feeling of “Are we really doing this? Again?” on only its third outing. As much as there is to complain about Furious 7 and its predecessors from a narrative or cinematic perspective, it’s difficult to deny how much the players enjoy making those movies with each other. That makes all the difference when you’re talking about this kind of action franchise that wears its fatuous convictions on its sleeve.
There’s a key investment in relationship, not just between the characters but also the actors who portray them. This builds satisfyingly and emotionally by the time we get to Furious 7’s final scene, which features Wiz Khalifa’s soon to be Oscar-nominated hip-hop ballad. Clearly informed by Paul Walker’s tragic death in 2013, the song pays beautiful tribute not just to the late actor but to the series that defined his career. The way it's woven into the film’s conclusion calls to mind how Sia’s “Breathe Me” was the perfect grace note on which to end HBO’s “Six Feet Under,” despite how cloyingly ubiquitous that song also became.
There isn’t a deep well of nominatable movie songs this year. Even the popular hits (“Love Me Like You Do” from Fifty Shades of Grey, for example) don’t feel as iconic, instantly recognizable or important to their films as “See You Again”. I don’t think a lot of people would readily admit this, but I’m actually a true believer in moderate cinematic snobbery, at least as an organizational principle. One can’t see everything that comes out every year. I get that. But, mope as one may about the idea of Furious 7 being an Academy Award winner (which... well much worse films can claim that distinction) I honestly challenge anyone to find a song more deserving of this win, given what the category's winners should be under the best of circumstances.