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.
Devastating Earthquakes in Nepal, Ecuador, Italy and the Hindu
Kush
All hell has broken loose, so
it comes as no wonder that the Doomsday clock leaves us 3 metaphorical minutes
away from the Apocalypse.
