The Academy Awards
Frankly, it didn’t surprise me that the Academy Awards had its lowest-ever ratings on TV, became more of a platform for racial hype than spectacular entertainment or dragged on and on for a marathon four and a half hours of tinseltown boredom.
 Well, yes, it was entertaining in spots. Like when Sting, Randy Newman, John Goodman, Enya, Faith Hill and Paul McCartney performed the Oscar-nominated songs. Or some of the edited sketches showcasing famous faces or memorable performances from glamorous days gone by. Or flashbacks of Sidney Poitier’s fascinating career. Or Robert Redford’s candid comments, or an occasional bit of spicy humor by hostess Whoopi Goldberg.
The new Kodak Theater looked dazzling on the tube. But, I never saw the glamour once associated with Hollywood’s finest moment. All I saw were sexy looking women with weird hairdos wearing expensive dresses tailored to show off their girlish charms, which, sometimes, weren’t always so girlish.
To be blunt, the ceremony was mundane nonsense and reeked of politics, the kind Hollywood always trots out in a “little song and dance routine” when it’s trying to please the masses and cultivate the big bucks in advertising.
The tribute to New York (and the grief shared by people everywhere following the terrorist attacks) was a nice gesture, but having Woody Allen come out, awkwardly, and do a cross between his standup comedy act and a “I Love New York” kind of testimony seemed a little absurd and unnecessary. But, then, that’s just Hollywood’s way of telling the world, and especially New Yorkers, that “Hollywood, baby, is behind you all the way.”
I thought Kevin Spacey’s comments about the September 11 tragedy were poignant, but taking a silent break in festivities hardly seemed necessary. And, it wasn’t very silent. I kept hearing a loud hum coming from a bad sound system that interrupted my concentration and any reverence I might have exhibited for such a contrite spectacle in a formal awards-type format.
 And, why all the fuss over Poitier, anyway. Granted, he made history by becoming the first black (I guess it was Negro, then) actor to win an Oscar in a leading role, and he certainly deserved that, but what has he done lately to deserve a special Oscar? And Denzel Washington getting the nod over Russell Crowe in the best actor category?
Did the Academy knuckle down to prejudicial comments by critics who claimed African American performers were being overlooked simply because of the color of their skin? Or did the Academy give the award to Washington because Crowe irritated some of his peers, and some film critics as well, with his brash, but honest “that’s the way I feel” behavior when his script was tampered with in a previous awards show?
 How convenient, I thought, that Denzel, (whom I have always respected and liked as an actor), could follow in the steps of his idol, Poitier and march off with him, triumphantly, black arm in arm, into the greenroom. And Hallie Berry getting the best actress award – the first for an African American actress in a lead role – over Sissy Spacek or even Nicole Kidman, who had been honored previously at the Golden Globes? No way.
But, wait a minute. Another racial slur. Sorry, folks, Academy voters must have decided she needed to be the first woman to “break down the door,” as she so bluntly and crudely commented. Then Whoopi coming back on stage to interrupt the flow of the show by adding her approval of the historic, African American moment in history.
And Julia Roberts making a fool out of herself running up and kissing Poitier and then telling her mother on national TV, before she presented an award, that she had just kissed Sidney Poitier. Please. Let’s have a little credibility here. This is an Academy Award winner, gushing over a great American actor, or maybe earning brownie points in prime time.
And, let me set the record straight. I am not prejudiced. How could I be. Look around you. Caucasians in show biz, and everywhere else for that matter, are a minority these days. African Americans are everywhere in entertainment. In movies, on TV, accepting awards on music shows, making guest appearances on national TV talk shows, and getting filthy rich playing pro football and basketball.
They deserve the recognition. Many white movie directors and producers, particularly in the south, have played dirty pool over the years. Many talented African Americans have suffered and sacrificed to earn their brief brush with fame. And, let’s face it, most African Americans can sing better and dance better and run better and shoot hoops better than most of us Caucasians. Bravo.
Give credit where credit is due. Just don’t let the Oscar show become so political, so racial, so boring, so predictable and so loooooooonnnnnnnng, that people turn off the tube and go to bed. That’s a real bummer.
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