by
Mike Scinto
As it appeared in Civitas Community Newspapers including
The Weekly Herald Record and the Xenia Gazette March 1, 2015
Do
bigger-than-life Hollywood stars have an obligation to speak out in order to
bring about change, or should they suppress their notoriety and stick to
reading well-written scripts? Which do you admire more? And do you even pay
attention when a movie star, purely by working on the big screen, addresses
complex political issues as if they hold a doctorate in the field?
The
Academy Awards have always been a platform for some political speech. I
remember two of the most noteworthy in my lifetime. George C. Scott was the first actor to refuse the
Academy Award for Best Actor (for “Patton” in
1970) after he alerted the Academy that he would refuse it on philosophical
grounds saying "The whole thing is a goddamn meat parade. I don't want any
part of it." Actually, while the refusal was rather flamboyant, it might
not be so far from the truth. And that is especially true today. The other was
actor Marlon Brando. In 1973 Brando refused to accept the Oscar for his performance
in “The Godfather”. Native
American Sacheen Littlefeather represented him at the ceremony. She appeared in
full Apache attire and stated that because of the "poor treatment of
Native Americans in the film industry" Brando would not accept the award.
At
this years’ ceremony there was a reference decrying the perceived lack of equal
pay for women. Ironically that charge was leveled by actress Patricia Arquette whose net worth, estimated by busy bodies
who collect that kind of data, is about $24 million.
Latin Director Alejandro
González Iñárritu won Best Director
for “Birdman” this year. With respect to Mexicans living in the United States (millions of whom are
here illegally) he said: “I just pray they can be treated with the same dignity
and respect of the ones that came before and built this incredible, immigrant
nation.'' Of course he failed to acknowledge the years of waiting to come to
this country through LEGAL channels for many of those earlier immigrants.
Springfield native John Legend, winning the
Oscar for “Glory” for the film “Selma” along with co-recipient Common (who made
an eloquent non-racial acceptance speech) added "Selma is now, because the
struggle for justice is right now, continuing "There are more black men
under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850." Should
that remark be focused, as it apparently is, at white America or rather used to
open exploration to find out if that disproportionate number has other root
causes?
The political speeches, along with what I call
irreverence on the part of Neil Patrick Harris appearing (with reference to the
infamous “Birdman” scene) in his tighty-whities at the microphone has brought
the once-glamorous ceremony to a new low. As a side note, the viewership was
the lowest in the past 6 Oscar presentations.
Kathy and I have
always enjoyed watching the Academy Awards together but, speaking only for us,
we’ll likely be tuning in to reruns of “The Big Bang Theory” next year. It will
probably be much more relevant!
