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2021 Oscars

The Academy Awards are live on ABC TV.

I just tuned in to hear the moving acceptance speech of Troy Kostur in CODA.

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    I can't believe Will Smith won best actor (none / 0) (#1)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Mar 28, 2022 at 07:02:36 AM EST
    Yikes (none / 0) (#2)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Mar 28, 2022 at 07:10:36 AM EST
    Given that it happened onstage prior ... (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Mar 28, 2022 at 11:06:31 AM EST
    ... to the Best Actor award presentation, Will Smith should've been escorted from his seat by security and kicked out of the theatre. And then afterward, the Academy should've announced to the audience that it was sending Smith's Oscar to him via UPS or Express Mail.

    You know, I've long suspected that for all his obvious talent, Smith is basically a self-absorbed a$$hole. And tonight, in front of his peers and a national TV audience, he proved it. Why else would he, on a night that was to be a defining pinnacle in his career, hit Chris Rock?

    I'm sorry, but you don't get to just walk up onstage and hit a comedian in the head because you're offended by one of his jokes. On any other night and in any other public venue, that's classified as an assault and you or I would've likely been facing an arraignment on that charge before a judge this morning, had either of us done what Smith did.

    Lousy jokes, off-color remarks, bad puns and poor taste are why the good Lord gave us as adults the ability to roll our eyes and walk away. We're supposed to show good judgment and know better.

    There's no excuse for Will Smith's public temper tantrum last night.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Aww , c'mon (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by Chuck0 on Mon Mar 28, 2022 at 11:22:00 AM EST
    someone had to channel Kanye.

    Parent
    Smith should have channeled Kanye (5.00 / 1) (#27)
    by Towanda on Wed Mar 30, 2022 at 10:20:14 AM EST
    and just taken the mic to call out Rock for mocking disability.

    Parent
    As a women who experienced (5.00 / 2) (#11)
    by MO Blue on Mon Mar 28, 2022 at 10:32:08 PM EST
    rapid and complete hair loss, I can attest that it is a traumatic experience. Having your hair come off in hugh clumps and unclogging your tub and sinks while experiencing bald spots in spots where your hair was is really not a laughing matter for those who have experienced it.

    While not condoning Smith's violent actions, I personally think the so called joke was in extremely poor taste and needed to be called out.

    People reacted extremely negatively when Trump made fun of a journalist with a disability. To me much the same.

    Parent

    Chris Rock made an ad-lib remark ... (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Mar 29, 2022 at 03:06:29 AM EST
    ... about Jada Pinkett Smith's spiffy buzzcut. He never even mentioned her medical condition. (Disclosure: As a cancer survivor myself, I lost my hair twice to chemotherapy. I can attest that psychologically, it's rather devastating to see it suddenly fall out, sometimes in big clumps, so I really do empathize with her self-consciousness.)

    Now, whether Rock was even aware of her medical condition, I honestly don't know. If he was, then shame on him for that boorish and tasteless remark. But if he wasn't, then it was a fast quip from a quit wit about a woman's buzzcut which he otherwise thought benign and didn't realize would be taken as offensive by his quarry.

    Many of the great stand-up comedians have made their way by pushing boundaries and living on the edge. And quite frankly, we like our comedians to be edgy, so long as someone else is their primary target. But when we find ourselves sited in their crosshairs, I imagine that it's probably not uncommon for many of us to suddenly see that comic become Laurence Olivier in "The Marathon Man." When Chris Rock cracked wise about looking forward to seeing Jada Pinkett Smith in "G.I. Jane 2," the only thing the Smiths heard was "Is it safe?"

    If Ms. Pinkett Smith had a problem with the "G.I. Jane 2" quip, which she clearly did, then she and her husband could have spoken with Chris Rock afterward and resolved it like adults. Or, Will Smith could have called out the comedian publicly during his then-prospective acceptance speech, since he was widely presumed to be the front-runner and heavy betting favorite for Best Actor.

    My point is this: The Smiths clearly had several socially acceptable options regarding how to proceed in their handling of the perceived offense. Instead, he intemperately (and rather foolishly) chose to resort to violence, while she did nothing to dissuade her husband from channeling his angry inner 10-year-old who impetuously decides to punch the kid with the big mouth during school recess.

    Chris Rock made a (perhaps insensitive) joke at Jada Pinkett Smith's expense. Comedians roast other celebrities all the time at these events. It was nothing out of the ordinary, and sometimes the jokes really fall flat. But when performers are onstage doing their shtick, that's rightly presumed to be a safe zone physically.

    I would note here that earlier in the evening, Will Smith said and did nothing when one of the co-hosts (who were all comedians) offered a passing reference about the couple's often well-publicized marital issues. Unfair, perhaps, but that's life under the public microscope in Hollywood's petri dish, where they've chosen to reside.

    But when Chris Rock did the same to his wife, Will Smith clicked on bar fight mode, a decision rooted in his own toxic masculinity. There will likely be significant consequences for it, which may include his suspension or even expulsion from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and maybe even the loss of future projects should others now (understandably) refuse to work with him.

    And the fault for that rests entirely with Mr. Smith. Aloha.

    Parent

    Jada has spoken about her medical (5.00 / 1) (#14)
    by MO Blue on Tue Mar 29, 2022 at 07:18:17 AM EST
    condition often so I find it doubtful that Rock was unaware.

    As I stated, I did not approve of Will Smith's actions. I also am doubling down on my opinion that the joke was in poor taste. IMO, we as a nation, have become much too accepting of rude and boorish behavior and jokes about someone's disability or medical condition are not funny.

    Parent

    The reporting is (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Mar 29, 2022 at 07:26:03 AM EST
    He did not know.  I think it's believable.  

    I agree that shows like the Oscars have become places where this stuff is funny.  And I hate it.

    I can remember several Oscar jokes just as offensive.

    They are saying Oscar is considering it's options for how this should be delt with.  I think they should drop the show.  It's always a 3-4 hour embarrassment.  Just drop the stupid show and announce the winners.

    page 6

    Parent

    As I already acknowledged, ... (none / 0) (#23)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Mar 29, 2022 at 07:18:43 PM EST
    MO Blue: "As I stated, I did not approve of Will Smith's actions. I also am doubling down on my opinion that the joke was in poor taste. IMO, we as a nation, have become much too accepting of rude and boorish behavior and jokes about someone's disability or medical condition are not funny."

    ... there was obviously a problem with Chris Rock's "G.I. Jane 2" quip, even if only from the way it was perceived by some. And I do agree with you that we're much too accepting of rude remarks and boorish personal behavior, although I would suggest that we're perhaps more benumbed than actually tolerant of it. I mean, it's exhausting work to try to hold the floodgates against the crude, lewd and skewed. I don't doubt that many of us, myself included, are simply tired of it all.

    Anyway, let's get back to the subject at hand. From the Smiths' standpoint, what matters isn't what Chris Rock meant by that snarky comment, but what they actually heard. And honestly, the Smiths' grievance about that joke is an entirely legitimate point of view, even if some of us vehemently disagree with their defenders' interpretation of subsequent events.

    But just as honestly, that's also a sideshow because the primary issue here really isn't Chris Rock's offending joke but rather, Will Smith's violent overreaction to it. Attempts to deflect attention from the latter's culpability for his actions by blaming his victim's big mouth are, in my opinion -- well, they are what they are.

    And on that note, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's thoughtful take on the whole Smith-Rock imbroglio is far and away the most intelligent and articulate piece I've read on the matter. And so, I'll just close by allowing Kareem the last word on my own behalf. He speaks for me:

    "I met Will Smith when I appeared on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air 28 years ago. And I've been to his house. I like him. He's charming, sincere, and funny. I'm also a big fan of his movies. He's an accomplished and dedicated actor who deserves the professional accolades he's received. But it will be difficult to watch the next movie without remembering this sad performance.

    "I don't want to see him punished or ostracized because of this one, albeit a big one, mistake. I just want this to be a cautionary tale for others not to romanticize or glorify bad behavior. And I want Smith to be the man who really protects others -- by admitting the harm he's done to others."

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Agree. And consider if (5.00 / 1) (#28)
    by Towanda on Wed Mar 30, 2022 at 10:25:05 AM EST
    Rock really didn't know of Pinkett Smith's disability -- I find that unbelievable, as she has been public about it -- what if the cause was not alopecia but chemo?

    Would Rock's defenders here think it okay to mock someone for cancer?

    Parent

    As someone who works in the industry (none / 0) (#29)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Mar 30, 2022 at 11:24:05 AM EST
    I also had no idea she has alopecia.

    I thought she shaved her head because it looks hot, like these women.

    Parent

    Personally, I didn't know about... (none / 0) (#31)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Mar 30, 2022 at 05:12:05 PM EST
    ... Jada Pinkett Smith's struggle with alopecia until well after last Sunday's Oscar telecast, which I admittedly did not watch live because it began airing out here at 2:00 p.m. I learned of it well after the fact only because it was mentioned numerous times by the media which were then covering the incident.

    Therefore, I think it's probably wise to refrain from second-hand assumptions about someone else's prior knowledge. Not everybody watches "Entertainment Tonight", reads the tabloids or otherwise keeps up with the latest celebrity news and gossip.

    That's the last I'll say on the matter. It serves no purpose to repeat the points I've already made in my prior comments. I stand by what I said.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Refrain all you wish (5.00 / 2) (#38)
    by Towanda on Thu Mar 31, 2022 at 09:14:38 PM EST
    but for once, don't lecture. When someone expresses an opinion, a lecture is not appriopriate.

    You have a good vocabulary, you certainly do like to write -- at length -- so you are capable of finding the words to employ a different style of communication.

    Parent

    Okay. You know what else isn't appropriate? (2.00 / 1) (#40)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sun Apr 03, 2022 at 03:12:41 AM EST
    Blaming the victim and insinuating that somehow, he asked for it.

    Is that succinct enough for you?

    Have a nice day.

    Parent

    I completely agree (none / 0) (#5)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Mar 28, 2022 at 11:08:39 AM EST
    It was vintage Will Smith.

    Parent
    years ago on Fresh Prince. He was always funny and charming and also very much the person in charge, carrying the weight, making the decisions.

    Agreed that what he did last night was inexcusable.

    I am surprised that we did not come back from commercial to find his seat empty.

    Parent

    I don't know what kind of person he's been (none / 0) (#8)
    by McBain on Mon Mar 28, 2022 at 03:37:07 PM EST
    throughout his life or if he's unusually self absorbed but I agree with everything else Donald said. No excuse.  

    Parent
    Bufoonery indeed. (none / 0) (#3)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Mar 28, 2022 at 07:20:16 AM EST
    Just saw (none / 0) (#9)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Mar 28, 2022 at 05:28:32 PM EST
    The Eyes of Tammy Fay

    It's on HBO

    It's pretty great.  Jessica Chastain is almost unrecognizable most of the time.

    This was one of my favorite t shirts for years (none / 0) (#10)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Mar 28, 2022 at 06:49:44 PM EST
    In lesser hands, that performance could have devolved easily and quickly into a ruthless caricature more suited to the Lifetime Movie Network than a big-screen release.

    Instead, Chastain gave the late Tammy Faye Bakker Messner the dignity and respect she deserved but didn't necessarily receive during her lifetime. Hers was a well-deserved Oscar in a year when the Best Actress category was an exceptionally strong one.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Tammy Fay (none / 0) (#22)
    by BGinCA on Tue Mar 29, 2022 at 05:45:08 PM EST
    was played a bit too naive for my taste. In order to make her sympathetic she seems so oblivious to all the grifting and chicanery going on around her. The castle and gold just seems to appear before her as rewards for her faith or good works.

    Parent
    But apparently, Tammy Faye was that naive. (none / 0) (#24)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Mar 29, 2022 at 07:23:56 PM EST
    To quote an old Amish proverb, "too soon we grow old, and too late smart."

    Parent
    I started watching it last night. (none / 0) (#16)
    by Chuck0 on Tue Mar 29, 2022 at 08:25:45 AM EST
    I am going to have to watch in small pieces. Too much "praise the lord" for me and faux wholesomeness. Made me want to vomit.

    Don't get me wrong. The movie is entertaining and I like Chastain. I can only take the dialogue in small batches.

    Parent

    There is that (none / 0) (#17)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Mar 29, 2022 at 08:43:14 AM EST
    but it's worth it to hear her tell Falwell and a group of tv evangelists that it helps if you don't think of them as "homosexuals" but just think of them as "people".

    She became a Gay icon.  I'm not sure how factual this is but they make it look like this very fact is behind Falwells desire to destroy them.  Which he did.

    I hate organized religion as much as anyone.  Really.  But their ministery actually did some good work.  And while it was clearly mostly to make money for them it at least, as she says in the movie, it was not about hating anyone.

    Fallwell was all about hate and those people.  And they had 4 times as many viewers as him.  They had to go.

    This is kind of shocking (to me) and I guess I may have (must have) known this but I either didn't know or forgot about the whole Jim was gay part.

    He was.

    Parent

    Vincent D'Onofrio (5.00 / 2) (#18)
    by Chuck0 on Tue Mar 29, 2022 at 09:09:36 AM EST
    as Falwell is really creepy. He evokes evil. I always despised Falwell. His son turned out even worse.

    Parent
    UHH (none / 0) (#19)
    by jmacWA on Tue Mar 29, 2022 at 03:07:10 PM EST
    Vincent D'Onofrio is creepy as Vincent D'Onofrio.  At least to me... but he has played some great parts... Haven't seen this yet but it might not be a big stretch for him to seem evil.

    Parent
    The (none / 0) (#20)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Mar 29, 2022 at 03:44:32 PM EST
    He is a perfect (none / 0) (#21)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Mar 29, 2022 at 03:59:08 PM EST
    Falwell

    The casting for the other evangelists is pretty great too.

    I love the mother character.  She is exactly the kind of christian I grew up with.

    She has the best line when Tammy is telling her how they plan to go on the road and "be just like Oral Roberts".
    She says
    "Oral Roberts went to college. He has one named after him!

    Parent

    Vincent D'Onofrio being (none / 0) (#26)
    by MKS on Wed Mar 30, 2022 at 08:42:52 AM EST
    creepy is all Stanley Kubrick's fault.

    An unforgettable role....  

    Parent

    I agree (none / 0) (#30)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Mar 30, 2022 at 11:26:26 AM EST
    I worked with his sister for a couple years and met him a couple times. He was a funny, easy-going guy.

    Parent
    Agreed. Tammy Faye was genuine. (5.00 / 1) (#25)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Mar 29, 2022 at 08:44:57 PM EST
    Jim Bakker was in the Bible-thumping business to enrich himself, and he sure was good at it - at least, initially. He knew the lingo and buzzwords, and had all the moves and mannerisms down pat. (And you know, he still does.) Despite his obvious demons and personal flaws, he thrived in that world for a pretty long time.

    Tammy Faye was in the same business because she was married to Jim and like any good Christianist wife, she had dutifully subordinated herself to his ambition and became an integral performer in his Hallelujah circus act.

    But because she actually cared about others and wanted to do good works, Tammy Faye also followed her own heart on some matters that were clearly fundamental to her core spiritual being, rather than the stern and austere Christianist doctrines preached by her husband and his ilk.

    And I believe that's ultimately why she and the Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr. clashed. Because he clearly had no heart, Falwell could never understand the inner ticking of someone like Tammy Faye and grasp what she was all about. He was enthralled by power and consumed by greed, ambition and personal animus. In his spiritually devoid world, everybody had his or her price.

    But Tammy Faye was motivated by love and empathy, and once matters reached a genuine spiritual impasse between her and Falwell's morally and ethically corrupt universe, she wasn't going to compromise her core principles and sell out. And so, not surprisingly, she and her husband ultimately had to be marginalized and crushed by Falwell & Co., LLC - coldly, ruthlessly and in the end, quite cruelly.

    Deep down inside, Tammy Faye was a good, kind and decent person, even if she often struggled to hold onto those values. It took her personal humiliation on a national stage at the hands of both her husband and Falwell for her to finally rip off her blinders, fully tap into that inner wellspring of goodness, and thus realize her true moral stature. She had to lose her entire world as she knew it, in order to once again regain and keep her soul.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    The Academy Begins Disciplinary Proceedings Against Will Smith, Says He Refused to Leave Ceremony

    The actor could face suspension, expulsion, or other sanctions under the Academy's Standards of Conduct, according to the statement issued after a meeting of the board of governors.



    I wonder what they meant (none / 0) (#33)
    by Jeralyn on Wed Mar 30, 2022 at 10:41:32 PM EST
    when they say in their statement that they (the Academy) could have handled it better as well.

    Parent
    Me too (none / 0) (#34)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Mar 31, 2022 at 10:42:12 AM EST
    My guess is they are giving themselves an out.

    On the bright side it made me smile to learn that the CEO for the Academy is Dawn Hudson. My wife helped Dawn produce a show about 35 years ago...

    Parent

    And there's more... (none / 0) (#35)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Mar 31, 2022 at 01:42:58 PM EST
    `Summer of Soul' Producer Slams "Selfish" Will Smith and Chris Rock's "Four White Guys" Joke

    Joseph Patel, one of the three producers of the Oscar-winning doc, outlined how Rock's jibe on the team's win made him angry: "Chris -- You absolute f--g dick."



    Rawstory (5.00 / 2) (#36)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Mar 31, 2022 at 01:56:07 PM EST

    This Wednesday, the Academy claimed they asked Will Smith to leave the Dolby Theater after he walked up on stage and slapped comedian Chris Rock. But according to sources speaking to TMZ, the Academy is lying.



    Parent
    crazy (none / 0) (#37)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Mar 31, 2022 at 04:04:36 PM EST
    Will Smith has resigned from the Academy (none / 0) (#39)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri Apr 01, 2022 at 09:46:23 PM EST
    Which, apparently, in practical terms, means he himself won't be able to vote on other Academy nominated actors, writers, or movies, etc., however his performances are eligible for Academy nominations and awards.