Not ONLY should you be just about booed offstage, or have your acceptance speech cut short, but AMPAS shoud fine you $10,000 for making political statements (whether for/against Bush and/or the war) during the Academy Awards, after having been asked in no uncertain terms not to.
The program was meant to celebrate acheivements in filmmaking over the past year, not to provide a soapbox.
The $10,000 could go to humanitarian relief for war victims, or a widows and orphans fund for troops killed in action, or some similar charity.
Those political statements made the show more interesting to me. I want to see drama, I want to hear the boos and cheers. I want joy, I want pain, and I want it all to happen at the Oscars.
I thought it was tame for what has happened in the past. I think Michael Moore message was lost a little bit in the end. The looks on some peoples faces in the audience was a little less than shock.
God, you people. The guy said a few words from his heart and you want to fine him thousands of dollars? Not to be too brash, but this is wack. Yes, I agree with Michael Moore, but that doesn’t enter into it, for all I care Bruce Willis could go up on that stage and shout his mouth off about how good this war is and I wouldn’t want to rip any cash off him either.
Go for it. But by being a total dork, I mean going on and on about something, when you’re specifically asked not to. If someone goes up there and preaches a sermon, fine their asses. If they’re all “first of all, I thank God, for being in my life,” I can deal with that. if they’re all “I thank God, because He saved me soul, when I was stuck in hell, and He gave me everything I have, and I thank my pastor for helping me through hard times. Only Jesus can save your soul. I once was lost…(so on and so forth)” slap 'em with that fine.
There is a difference between saying something, and making an awards show a forum for your opinions. Accept the award, and get off the stage. Please.
Lynne that is exactly what I meant. I’m not saying that if you wear a strip of duct tape on your lapel, or thank God, or Allah, or Ganesha, or whatever, that you should be fined. But when the organizers of the award show (the Oscars, Peoples Choice, Billboard Awards, MTV, et al) specifically ask you to refrain from making political speeches during the show, and your ego is unable to comply, then please don’t forget to sign the check. You are more than welcome to buy advertising time during the telecast, take out full page ads in whatever publication that you’d like, rent billboards, etc. But the show itself is neither the time nor the place. If you are so against the war, that’s fine. Make a film about it, get yourself another Oscar, and run it back up the Acadamy’s ass for all we care. Just shut up and show some gratitude.
Michael Moore’s situation was an exception to the rule. Winners of documentary films or films based on real life tragedies have usually made acceptance speeches that draw attention to the subject of the film itself. That is what Moore did.
I think he was a little too war-like in his presentation considering that he wants peace. But he did what he thought was best and he earned the right to say it.
I would just like to say that the Oscars are pretty sad anyway - I agree that if asked not to give any great political speeches then dont. I would also like to say - What was with Cameron Diaz’s hair??? Did she have to pay someone to do that to her???
I’ve had a vitriolic hatred for Moore for years. I defend his right to spew his hatred for America, but take issue with the fact that he does is and then hides from debate. He’s a worthless coward, and I hope a slow, painfull disease on him.
Anyone who slams me, you’re defending his right to free speech but won’t accord me the same.
So if I disagree with you, it means that I’m not granting you the right to free speech? If I didn’t hate emoticons, I’d put a rolleyes one here.
Anyway, I haven’t noticed Moore hiding from debate. Also, I haven’t noticed him hating America. He hates killings, poverty and hunger, and I’m pretty sure you do as well.
Wishing a slow painful disease on someone who hasn’t hurt anybody is pretty pathetic, in my opinion.
I tried to contact him through his website, and there is no way to do it directly. However, I remain here to debate if you want to. I never said you didn’t have free speech, I wrote that because I’m here to debate, as opposed to having a national telecast where I can spout off views in an innappropiate forum (though who thought this wouldn’t happen). As a veteran, I have put my life on the line so you can say what you want. This wasn’t meant to start a fight. But I’ll say this, if I lived in a country where my mother, sisters and wife were subject to being raped by a state sponsered agency, I’d be the first to welcome the liberators.