TO HELL WITH THE OSCARS
know that a lot of you people at home want to reach for your remote when you feel like Hollywood is preaching to you, but as a mother of a Black son I know the fear that so many live with, and no amount of fame or fortune changes that, OK?” OK! And guess what? Millions did reach for the remote, just like she said. Ordinary folk getting preached at by people who are far richer and far more famous than they are isn’t a recipe for ratings success, except with those who already agree with you entirely and are thrilled to hear their prejudices reflected by your prejudices. We are being drowned in content... We cannot keep our heads above water to catch a breath. And instead of throwing us a lifeline, the people who make the movies and star in the movies and give awards to the movies are sucking up all the oxygen with their nonsense, foolishness, and self-satisfaction. Listening to King express her disgust at this country – given her own experience in it as an American who has been a successful working actress since the age of 14 with earnings to boot, has won four Emmys and an Oscar, and just directed her first film – offered us an up-to-the-minute display of a long-simmering attitude that is at the root of the Oscar’s’ self- destruction. This attitude was exemplified by the speech given by George Clooney when he won his trophy for supporting actor in 2006...
HOLLYWOOD: WOKE, TONE-DEAF, AND IRRELEVANT Clooney, one of the biggest stars of the previous decade and a man whom middle America had clasped to its bosom, declared himself happily “out of touch” with the nation that loved him – the America that had elected George W. Bush. “We are,” he said, “a little bit out of touch in Hollywood every once in a while, I think. It’s probably a good thing. We’re the ones who talked about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and we talked about civil rights when it wasn’t really popular. And we, you know, we bring up subjects, we are the ones – this Academy, this group of people gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when Blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I’m proud to be a part of this Academy, proud to be part of this community, and proud to be out of touch.” People like Clooney are rewarded for the entertainment they provide, and we do not begrudge them their success. But when they claim they are superior to others in virtue? That attitude is, quite simply, disgusting. The problem these days is that we are assaulted by the supposed virtuousness of celebrities, as they present themselves daily for our perusal on social media. There was a time this was not the case. Remember when we knew nothing about movie stars? If you do, you’re relatively old, so if you don’t, you have to trust me that there was a time when this was a fact of life – a time when the power of celebrity was reinforced by the power of scarcity rather than the ubiquity and constant presence in our lives of today’s celebrities. Once upon a time, the American
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May 2021
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