Oscars 2015

Tensions ran high and emotions ran higher at this year’s Oscars which served as a platform for the provocation of a lot of controversial issues, naturally demanding my attention. 

Racism is the first thing that comes to mind as the Oscars have been anointed many choice names from “Whitewashed Oscars” to “Oscarssowhite” and so on due to all of the acting nominees being Caucasian to which the Host Neil Patrick Harris cheekily remarked  “Tonight we honour the best and the whitest…I mean brightest”.

The bias of the Academy probably stems from the capitalistic nature of Hollywood where they tend to stick to tried and tested formulae when producing movies resulting in mainly stereotypical or historical roles for racially diverse actors. 

The situation was aggravated due to prior racial incidents namely the Ferguson shooting making the entire Oscars seem more racist than it actually was due to its lack of diversity. We mustn’t forget that in 2014 12 years a slave won the award for best picture, Lupita Nyong’o won the award for best supporting actress and Alfonso Curano won the award for best director for Gravity.

However this does not excuse the fact that there were incredible performances by actors of other races that weren’t appreciated, one that immediately comes to mind is breakout actor David Oyelowo who portrayed Martin Luther King Jr., and I admonish the Academy for that. I may be biased since Selma resonated strongly with me, but you didn’t need to watch the film to be moved to tears by John Legend and Common’s performance of “Glory” which incidentally won the award for best original song and exploded on the internet for making the audience cry particularly Chris pine.

John Legend’s acceptance speech also pointed out the harsh fact that there were more black people, 1 in 11 according to statistics, under correctional control than there were slaves in the 1850s. Granted that today’s justice system is in no way comparable to the severity of slavery this figure still seems too ludicrous to be true, but sadly it isn’t. 

Later on in the night the situation was further agitated when Sean Penn’s racist retort “who gave this son of a bitch a green card” was aimed at director Alejandro González Iñárritu and caused a major uproar among the public. This reaction was premature since the audience had no clue that Sean and Alejandro were close friends and that this was a running inside joke. I’m certain I speak on behalf of many of you when I say that this is the sort of relationship I share with my friends where our humour can be misconstrued as harsh in any scenario other than amongst us. 

In conclusion Should Sean Penn have said a racist joke on live TV? No. Should we take up arms against it? No.

Fortunately due to intermingling of races, in the future there will be no races and ipso facto no racial disputes.

Gender Equality was also addressed at the Oscars as Reese Witherspoon, Patricia Arquette and Julianne Moore initiated a campaign #askhermore aimed at getting the public to compel the media to ask female celebrities questions beyond their outfits.

Although petty, clothing rivalries and who wore it best competitions are all part and parcel of entertainment media. Celebrities know it, the public knows it. They exploit it, we devour it. Hence all those “controversial”, publicity attracting, see through/bare all outfits. It is a vicious cycle but one which celebrities themselves are partly responsible for peddling. It does accentuate how archaic the media machine that focuses on a woman’s dress rather than her opinions is.

 Arquette later went on to add, in her acceptance speech, that women don’t get paid equal amounts to their male counterparts, which resonated with the crowd and the community. The Gender pay gap is a global issue but at least in the US there is actual legislation that enforces Equal Pay.

The problem is that not enough lawsuits are being filed to make profit seeking companies fear litigation. Why the issue isn’t championed and challenged in court by those affected may be due to numerous reasons like lack of knowledge, personal disinclinations, contracts, difficulties in appraisal, etc.  

Suicide was another issue that was broached, specifically by producer Dana Perry in her acceptance speech for Crisis hotline: Veterans Press 1 as she shared her son’s tragic death from suicide.

This shone a light on the dark reality that suicide is the third leading cause of death for those between the ages of 10 to 24.It’s easy to forget that these are the most impressionable and influential years of our lives ,and the reason why bullying, bad parenting and associations are such critical concerns.

Best Screenplay award winner for the Imitation game ,Graham Moore, also revealed his troubled childhood, where he attempted suicide, offered this heartening statement “that kid out there who feels like she’s weird or she’s different or she doesn’t fit in anywhere. Yes, you do. You do. Stay weird, stay different”. 
 

  

Advocacy of such nature forces acceptance and a change in mentality engendering the message that it is alright to have such tendencies but it isn’t alright to hide them.

Seek help and Seek health because recovery is more than possible.           

The Oscars are generally considered to be superficial but this year the limelight was taken up by real issues. I applaud celebrities for their use of such a globally viewed stage to address such sensitive and serious subjects.

Congratulations.

HeForShe:The Peaceful Coexistence of the Sexes

Dear Readers 

I’m sure by now you’ve all seen or heard of the UN pro-gender equality campaign #HeForShe, and especially the very eloquent Emma Watson‘s emotionally stirring speech.   

The quiver in her voice I felt emphasized the direness of the situation and served to further strengthen the whole message. 

Truly inspiring.

This set me off on an exciting, gear crunching thought process. 

What is sexism derived from?

Sexism stems from the biological differences between a male and a female, or in scientific terms the sexual dimorphism that arises due to the DNA composition of humans. 

Just for the sake of it I’ll mention a few differences both general and physiological:

Women have a higher life expectancy

Men have a higher muscle mass and testosterone 

Men have a higher tolerance of pain

Women are more cold resistant

Men have a larger and denser bone structure  

Women have better skin 

Men are from Mars 

Women are from Venus 

Women have a vagina 

Men have a penis 

I could go on. 

But the point is that this led my train of thought to the second stop of its journey. 

Generalization and Stereotyping

All the above mentioned qualities are generalizations based on quantified standard deviation, means and bell curves. Although statistical quantification has many merits, generalizations however come with a price.

The communion between these generalizations and society gives birth to skewed preconceptions and stereotyping. 

Women are weak, Men are Strong is a classic exemplification of prejudice that has been drilled into our subconscious. This is could not be further from the truth however. 

I direct you to footage of this 13 year old girl who bench presses 240 pounds; More than most of the guys I know and way more than I can which isn’t saying much but serves to render this preconception to be false.

The negativity that stems from standard deviation is that, for this skill she is considered an anomaly, an outlier. Women with muscular bodies are viewed as unnatural. Having no muscle tone or strength is a considered a threat to the masculinity of a man. 

Thankfully this narrow mindedness is dissipating rapidly, however the fact that it is still even present should be cause enough to take action should it not? 

Everyone is unique and has a unique set of traits, skills, ideals and flaws. Why aren’t we more accepting of the choices of our own species?  

Human nature 

We are a communal creatures and such I believe that we have an inherent need to fit in. But does this need to familiarize in turn cause a primal instinct to discriminate?  

It is indeed human nature to judge things; an ability that has enabled our very survival to be just.  However reckless, uneducated, biased and callous judgment instigates inequity and injustice. 

But are we all really equal? 

Equality and Communism

The answer is No.  There are countless factors that affect equality, cultural and general, local and global, most of which only serves to feed bigotry and intolerance.  So why then do we cling to such disparity? Why not level the playing field?

Thus, Communism was born.  An incredible sociological, political and economic notion and concept brought into theory by two German philosophers Karl Marx and Fredrich Engles, and first implemented by Lenin and further established by Stalin. It sought to eliminate the boundaries of social class and wealth and promote common ownership of resources and means of production. 

Although a revolutionary ideology its functionality suffered due to the fact that it didn’t take into account that people, although communal, were indeed diverse, in their beliefs, needs and aspirations leading to its demise.

  

Inequality

Inequality it would seem is the fundamental nature of the world. We all start our lives at different places, associate with different societies and adopt different ideals and morale compasses. Yet it is this struggle through inequality to achieve our destinies or goals that inspires change, makes us push the boundaries of our knowledge and motivates us to strive for continuous improvement.  

And if by some extraordinary event we manage to achieve absolute equality we would simply be dull drones living the same life stuck in a state of homeostasis.

Inequality adds diversity to life, and in my eyes, diversity enriches the existence of humanity.

However this only applies to general inequality. Inequality between races, gender, sexual orientation and classes should be abolished.

Equal opportunity, rights, and tolerance should be afforded to everyone.

My perspective 

This winding track which my train of thought chugged along finally arrived at station “where do I stand” 

Call me old fashioned but I think it is highly inappropriate for a man to hit a woman, although there are probably many women (including my girlfriend) who could kick my ass in a real fight, just boils down to how I was raised. 

Gender equality doesn’t necessarily mean that boys and girls should be treated in the exact same way

The general aim for the HeForShe program is to instill equality amongst the genders based on the following principles.

Both genders should have the same rights

Both genders should be offered the same protection from the law

Both male and female counterparts must have the same wages

 

Both genders must be given the same respect 

Both genders should be given the same opportunities

                                                             

It sickens me to think that there are some patriarchal societies that think of women as possessions given to men to be done with as they please.  Not only is this archaic viewpoint morally and ethically wrong to its core but it is obsolete and only a hindrance to the growth of the community.  

I urge, beg and plead for men, especially to the youth, who are in such communities to step back and grasp the gravity of these actions; these are irrefutable and unforgivable crimes and sins against the entire race of humanity.  

Think of these actions being performed on your mothers, your sisters and  your daughters 

Seek Repentance

Seek Change

Seek Equality