So did anyone watch the Oscars??
Mar. 28th, 2022 08:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatDid you watch the Oscars last night? I did, and it was really boring until Chris Rock came on, and then it got weird.
Depending on where you happened to live and which ABC affiliate was televising it - you saw various takes. In NYC we got the whole thing more or less, except it was muted when they started to curse each other out. Mother got nothing after the slap, her screen froze. And some folks just got a delay or a blank screen, while Japan and Australia got it all - live and in living color.
What happened, in case you are living under a rock, have no access to a television set or social media, didn't watch the Oscars...don't have to work with other folks in an office...basically a hermit in the hills somewhere (in which case can I join you?).
Chris Rock (a Black American stand-up comedian who hails from West PA and NYC, and specializes in insult humor) got up and once again, made fun of Jada Picket-Smith, who has been his go-to for jokes the last ten years now at the Oscars and elsewhere. Last night he made a fly-by joke..."Oh, Jada, you look lovely, sporting the GI Jane look for that next movie huh, love you as always." Or something to that effect.
Everyone laughed, but Jada, who visibly cringed, rolled her eyes, and looked upset - on the verge of tears. She had shaved her head due to an autoimmune illness that was causing her to lose her hair. Her husband, Will Smith laughed and then looked over, exchanged a few words with his wife, got up, and smacked Chris Rock.
Rock trying to make light of it: "So Will Smith just came up and smacked the shit out of me. Dude, it was just a joke about Jada and GI Jane - honestly, I like Jada -"
Smith: "Get my wife's name out of your fucking ass mouth!"
Rock: "Okay - I won't say Jada -"
Smith: Get my wife's name out of your fucking mouth!"
Rock: Okay, okay...I won't say her name any longer. Well, this evening just suddenly got really interesting. Presenting the award for...
At the break, Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry approached Smith and talked to him, they also sat with Jada, and Benedict Cumbatch talked to him and hugged him.
That's the summary of what basically happened.
We chatted about the Oscars at work today, since most of my co-workers also saw them - and most of my co-workers are either Caribbean or African-American heritage. Their reactions were split. Most felt that Smith was out of line, and T stated that her estimation of him had gone down considerably - she felt it was immature. AA stated that his favorite comedian is Chris Rock.
Also, knowing Rock's brand of comedy - he's an insult comedian, which as T pointed out is the popular brand of comedy in the US. It's used a lot at the Oscars. Everyone from Don Rickles to Johnny Carson to Bob Hope to Joan Rivers to Chris Rock has used it. Amy Schuamer's brand is more self-deprecating comedy, but both Wanda Sykes and Regina were utilizing jokes that were insult comedy.
I'm admittedly biased, since I don't like insult comedy. It makes me cringe. And outside of Schuamer's two jokes - one about the Spiderman outfit and the other about the seat savers, I didn't think the jokes were funny.
As I told my co-workers and folks on FB and Twitter - I don't think we're in a position to judge. We don't have all the information and we don't know what was going on behind the scenes. What I do know - makes me think that Jada had had it with Rock making her the brunt of his jokes, and everyone laughing. And made her husband, Will Smith, aware of it. She was there to support him - and he'd initially laughed at the joke. She got upset - and he reacted. Rock was out of line - and shouldn't have made the joke which was in poor taste. (Although he does that - a lot.) I don't like a lot of stand-up comedy - because it tends to be cruel by nature. (If you've never seen it - I strongly recommend Hannah Gadfrey's Nannette which kind of rips stand-up comedy a new one.)
Also, he didn't hit him that hard. He's fine. There wasn't a bruise.
At any rate, Will was obviously upset and regretted what he did - because he did a tearful apology with his acceptance speech for Best Actor. How much of it was real, and how much was acted, isn't clear.
I felt he deserved the win for King Richard, he was unrecognizable in the role. Also, they shouldn't take it away from him - how many Oscars does Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Mel Gibson, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and various others of that ilk have? Plus the Oscars aren't for humanitarian achievement in the arts, they are about what performances or films members of the academy of motion arts and sciences deem to be the best.
But at the end of the day...this quote I picked up from Twitter resonates..
My opinion is that it isn’t always needed. Yet, for some reason that doesn’t always keep me from voicing it.
A co-worker was upset that we were talking about this instead of more important things. That it was 1% problem. To which, I stated, yes, but, this is more fun to talk about. The Ukraine is depressing, homeless situation, all our problems, the pandemic, etc - it's depressing and we can't do anything about it. Why not take a break from it - and talk about this?
We can go back to talking about the Ukraine tomorrow - no, actually, you can, I prefer to continue to ignore it as much as I can - living in NYC, surrounded by Russian and Ukrainian immigrants.
***
The Oscars themselves...
Well, I only saw four of the five animated films. I'd not have given it to Encanto. Encanto was okay, but I liked Raya and the Last Dragon, along with Flee far better. (I think I'm the wrong demographic for Encanto, Luca, and Mitchell's vs. the Machines - in that I'm over 50 with no children.)
Of the best picture nominees, which I saw all but four of, saw: Don't Look Now, West Side Story, Dune, Power of the Dog, Coda, King Richard...did not see Licorice Pizza, Drive My Car (tried, got bored), Nightmare Alley and Belfast. (Geeze there were a lot of Best Picture nominees).
I'd have picked Power of the Dog. It still plays with my head. Coda is, well two movies. One is a nice run-of-the-mill feel good movie, the other is a compelling story about a family of death fishermen struggling to make their way in the world doing what the love. I wanted to watch the second movie, the first one kept getting in the way. So in my opinion, Coda is a deeply flawed film. I think it will be forgotten in ten years like Children of a Lesser God, and Power of the Dog will be taught in film schools.
Dune got a lot of awards - I wouldn't have given Dune either best score or cinematography - that I'd have given to Power of the Dog. I found Dune to be a bit on the dark and ponderous side.
No quibbles with the acting awards. I've not seen The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which was a huge upset, both Kristen Stewart and Olivia Coleman were shortlisted to win. Another huge upset was Coda - people thought Power of the Dog.
I do have quibbles with documentary feature. I'd have given it to Flee, or I'd have given animated to Flee. Maybe even Foreign film, since I got bored during Drive My Car.
I was not at all surprised when Billie English and Finneas won for Time to Kill. After I heard the entry - I knew it would win. It was haunting and the only song I remembered. All the James Bond songs tend to - mainly because Bond theme songs are usually excellent. That and Disney. I talked to mother about this...
Mother: But the guy who sang the Spanish song from Encanto was hot.
ME: What did you think of the song?
Mother: I didn't really care that much about it - he was just really attractive.
Me: So you want to give the award to the guy who sang the song, because he was hot?
Mother: Well...no...but...
See? All of this is so subjective. You really can't compare them. They are kind of fun though in a way. I wonder if there will ever come a time in which we don't need or want awards shows, and people just make art for the fun of it? With no need for validation, awards, or accolades - just to share something they made or created with others.
Perhaps when this happens...life will be easier for all of us?
One can hope, right?
Depending on where you happened to live and which ABC affiliate was televising it - you saw various takes. In NYC we got the whole thing more or less, except it was muted when they started to curse each other out. Mother got nothing after the slap, her screen froze. And some folks just got a delay or a blank screen, while Japan and Australia got it all - live and in living color.
What happened, in case you are living under a rock, have no access to a television set or social media, didn't watch the Oscars...don't have to work with other folks in an office...basically a hermit in the hills somewhere (in which case can I join you?).
Chris Rock (a Black American stand-up comedian who hails from West PA and NYC, and specializes in insult humor) got up and once again, made fun of Jada Picket-Smith, who has been his go-to for jokes the last ten years now at the Oscars and elsewhere. Last night he made a fly-by joke..."Oh, Jada, you look lovely, sporting the GI Jane look for that next movie huh, love you as always." Or something to that effect.
Everyone laughed, but Jada, who visibly cringed, rolled her eyes, and looked upset - on the verge of tears. She had shaved her head due to an autoimmune illness that was causing her to lose her hair. Her husband, Will Smith laughed and then looked over, exchanged a few words with his wife, got up, and smacked Chris Rock.
Rock trying to make light of it: "So Will Smith just came up and smacked the shit out of me. Dude, it was just a joke about Jada and GI Jane - honestly, I like Jada -"
Smith: "Get my wife's name out of your fucking ass mouth!"
Rock: "Okay - I won't say Jada -"
Smith: Get my wife's name out of your fucking mouth!"
Rock: Okay, okay...I won't say her name any longer. Well, this evening just suddenly got really interesting. Presenting the award for...
At the break, Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry approached Smith and talked to him, they also sat with Jada, and Benedict Cumbatch talked to him and hugged him.
That's the summary of what basically happened.
We chatted about the Oscars at work today, since most of my co-workers also saw them - and most of my co-workers are either Caribbean or African-American heritage. Their reactions were split. Most felt that Smith was out of line, and T stated that her estimation of him had gone down considerably - she felt it was immature. AA stated that his favorite comedian is Chris Rock.
Also, knowing Rock's brand of comedy - he's an insult comedian, which as T pointed out is the popular brand of comedy in the US. It's used a lot at the Oscars. Everyone from Don Rickles to Johnny Carson to Bob Hope to Joan Rivers to Chris Rock has used it. Amy Schuamer's brand is more self-deprecating comedy, but both Wanda Sykes and Regina were utilizing jokes that were insult comedy.
I'm admittedly biased, since I don't like insult comedy. It makes me cringe. And outside of Schuamer's two jokes - one about the Spiderman outfit and the other about the seat savers, I didn't think the jokes were funny.
As I told my co-workers and folks on FB and Twitter - I don't think we're in a position to judge. We don't have all the information and we don't know what was going on behind the scenes. What I do know - makes me think that Jada had had it with Rock making her the brunt of his jokes, and everyone laughing. And made her husband, Will Smith, aware of it. She was there to support him - and he'd initially laughed at the joke. She got upset - and he reacted. Rock was out of line - and shouldn't have made the joke which was in poor taste. (Although he does that - a lot.) I don't like a lot of stand-up comedy - because it tends to be cruel by nature. (If you've never seen it - I strongly recommend Hannah Gadfrey's Nannette which kind of rips stand-up comedy a new one.)
Also, he didn't hit him that hard. He's fine. There wasn't a bruise.
At any rate, Will was obviously upset and regretted what he did - because he did a tearful apology with his acceptance speech for Best Actor. How much of it was real, and how much was acted, isn't clear.
I felt he deserved the win for King Richard, he was unrecognizable in the role. Also, they shouldn't take it away from him - how many Oscars does Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Mel Gibson, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and various others of that ilk have? Plus the Oscars aren't for humanitarian achievement in the arts, they are about what performances or films members of the academy of motion arts and sciences deem to be the best.
But at the end of the day...this quote I picked up from Twitter resonates..
My opinion is that it isn’t always needed. Yet, for some reason that doesn’t always keep me from voicing it.
A co-worker was upset that we were talking about this instead of more important things. That it was 1% problem. To which, I stated, yes, but, this is more fun to talk about. The Ukraine is depressing, homeless situation, all our problems, the pandemic, etc - it's depressing and we can't do anything about it. Why not take a break from it - and talk about this?
We can go back to talking about the Ukraine tomorrow - no, actually, you can, I prefer to continue to ignore it as much as I can - living in NYC, surrounded by Russian and Ukrainian immigrants.
***
The Oscars themselves...
Well, I only saw four of the five animated films. I'd not have given it to Encanto. Encanto was okay, but I liked Raya and the Last Dragon, along with Flee far better. (I think I'm the wrong demographic for Encanto, Luca, and Mitchell's vs. the Machines - in that I'm over 50 with no children.)
Of the best picture nominees, which I saw all but four of, saw: Don't Look Now, West Side Story, Dune, Power of the Dog, Coda, King Richard...did not see Licorice Pizza, Drive My Car (tried, got bored), Nightmare Alley and Belfast. (Geeze there were a lot of Best Picture nominees).
I'd have picked Power of the Dog. It still plays with my head. Coda is, well two movies. One is a nice run-of-the-mill feel good movie, the other is a compelling story about a family of death fishermen struggling to make their way in the world doing what the love. I wanted to watch the second movie, the first one kept getting in the way. So in my opinion, Coda is a deeply flawed film. I think it will be forgotten in ten years like Children of a Lesser God, and Power of the Dog will be taught in film schools.
Dune got a lot of awards - I wouldn't have given Dune either best score or cinematography - that I'd have given to Power of the Dog. I found Dune to be a bit on the dark and ponderous side.
No quibbles with the acting awards. I've not seen The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which was a huge upset, both Kristen Stewart and Olivia Coleman were shortlisted to win. Another huge upset was Coda - people thought Power of the Dog.
I do have quibbles with documentary feature. I'd have given it to Flee, or I'd have given animated to Flee. Maybe even Foreign film, since I got bored during Drive My Car.
I was not at all surprised when Billie English and Finneas won for Time to Kill. After I heard the entry - I knew it would win. It was haunting and the only song I remembered. All the James Bond songs tend to - mainly because Bond theme songs are usually excellent. That and Disney. I talked to mother about this...
Mother: But the guy who sang the Spanish song from Encanto was hot.
ME: What did you think of the song?
Mother: I didn't really care that much about it - he was just really attractive.
Me: So you want to give the award to the guy who sang the song, because he was hot?
Mother: Well...no...but...
See? All of this is so subjective. You really can't compare them. They are kind of fun though in a way. I wonder if there will ever come a time in which we don't need or want awards shows, and people just make art for the fun of it? With no need for validation, awards, or accolades - just to share something they made or created with others.
Perhaps when this happens...life will be easier for all of us?
One can hope, right?
no subject
Date: 2022-03-30 01:51 am (UTC)I think insult humor has gone too far. Trump utilized in The Apprentice and ran with it - winning the Presidency as a result. And Simon Cowell also ran with it and made American Idol a huge success. It's behind 98% of the reality series, and center of many sitcoms. Roseanne is pretty much insult humor as is The Connors, Seinfield, Everybody Love's Raymond, so many.
And more than one stand-up comedian uses it.
The better comedians don't rely on it at all. And the smarter better comedies don't tend to rely on it quite as much. But most comedy comes from a place of pain, and makes fun of pain.
But there are degrees or limits and lines that shouldn't be crossed.
I find it difficult to harshly judge Smith for this - because I'd have wanted to smack Chris Rock. So I'd find him innocent, even if I don't agree with how he handled it.