Here is all I will say . . . not that they were not two killer performances BUT:
Denzel Washington . . .Hallie Berrie . . .and Sydney Poitier . . .Whoopi Goldberg’s comments about “another barrier being broken” . … Denzel Washington’s comments about “2 birds in one night” . . . it seems really obvious.
If the African-American community would not have been making as much noise about African-American actors being overlooked for Oscars, would I even be making this post? Have black leaders and those calling for a black Oscar done a disservice to these three great talents that would have been awarded anyway?
Or am I just being another racist for even daring to raise the question?
After all, the Academy has given white actors Oscars for poilitical reasons . . . so why not now do the “right” thing . . .your thoughts . . .
I had no problem with Halle’s speech. Very moving, although I wanted to tell her to get it together. It is a milestone. Denzel’s was fine too. The more actors and actresses of color who win awards, the less anyone will give a rip about race. We’re one step closer to that.
What I did not like was Whoopi’s comments. I’m trying to figure out why, and I think it’s because this past six months there has been so much focus on “pulling together.” Her cracks seemed to be emphasizing a gulf between black and white culture, and they seemed pretty tired, too (other comics do this better). It just seemed out of place tonight.
So no, my dominant thought tonight has been “Gwyneth, I can’t imagine a less flattering top”
I’ve always suspected this system to be a political one. So the results did not surprise me. We all have our favorites. I was hoping for Amelie & Lord of the Rings. But in all fairness, have not see Beautiful Mind, Sam, Monster’s Ball, Training Day… Hmm. Looks like I have some catching up to do.
I didn’t catch Sydney Poitier’s award, but Denzel Washington doesn’t surprise me – he is good, and since Russel Crowe won last year, the voters might have been disinclined to name him “Best Actor” again.
Me, personally, I thought Shrek winning Best Animated Feature was a crock – it had more “teen-hip” jokes, but from a storytelling and artistic performance, Monsters Inc. should’ve won. But I’m a major Pixar junkie…
Did Russell Crowe win last year? For some reason, I misremembered as Gladiator winning, but not RC. Oh, well.
The awards have always been political, in my opinion. Denzel Washington has done much better movies and should have won before (did he win for X?) and I always thought that between Whoopie Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and um, the other main female character in The Color Purple, any of them should have defeated Meryl Streep in Out of Africa. That one surprised me. There have been many wins/losses that have thrown me for a loop and, political or not, I was overjoyed to see two black actors win tonight.
Well, the Academy has to try and make amends for its “mistakes” of the past. Remember in 1982-3 when Phil Collins got dissed for the best song? It went to Stevie Wonder for the dismal “I Just Called To Say I Love You”. IIRC, that song shouldn’t have been nominated since it has been previously released. Again, IIRC, to be nominated, a song has to appear first in the movie before it appears anywhere else.
Anyway, the following year, ol’ Phil got the Best Album Grammy for No Jacket Required. A fair album by Collins standard, but certainly not “best”.
I consider Denzel and Sydney to be actors worthy of their awards, and think it’s a shame that there will always be someone trying to cheat their moment of glory by saying it’s political.
I’ve never seen a Halle Berry movie, so I don’t know if she’s a worthy actor, but again, it’s a shame that her win will always be chalked up as political by some.
It’s incredible that in 2002, we’re all making a big deal out of African Americans getting Oscars. This door should have opened years ago, and it’s about time that credit was given where credit is due. Let’s all hope that future Oscars will reward the best nominees, instead of the best white or the best black nominees as the year’s fashion demands. Unlikely, but still something we can hope for.
I’m inclined to agree with the “they deserved to win, but their wins will always by tainted by those who think it was for political reasons” argument, since it is hard to argue that their performances were NOT worthy.
It’s just that the entire presentation, and remarks by the actors and Whoopie Goldberg accentuated the politcal implications, to me. And the impression it gave to many had to be, well they won because they were black.
Let me ask these questions:
According to Whoopie Goldberg’s comments about “another barrier being broken”, does this imply that if Sissy Spacek, Rene Zellwhatever, Maggie Smith and Nichole Kidman would have won, would these actresses be responsible for holding black actresses back for another year?
Was it entirely fair for Whoopie to position these four actresses as the “bad guys” in the Oscars?
If Denzel Washington, Will Smith and/or Hallie Berrie did NOT win an Oscar, what would have the African-American community and the press be saying today? And how would have the crowd at the Kodak Center react?
Was this controversy really fair to the 7 white actors and actresses that were up for the award?
Isn’t it the case that Hollywood has really not created enough good roles for black actors, rather than they have been screwed at the Oscars because the Academy is prejudiced?
Ain’t that the truth. Speilberg had to make a Holocaust movie before he got his!
It seems that the Academy turns a blind eye, for the most part, to movies people actually WANT to see. Refer to the other Oscar posts concerning boring “Best Pictures”. Out of Africa? more like Out of No-Doz.
Because the competition was so stiff, Halle’s oscar meant more not less. I did not think that Whoopi was unfair to the other nominees. Halle won against some of the best actresses out there. Whoopi’s remarks were no more out of line than that of any sports announcer rooting for the home team.
Vinnie, I also don’t think it was a matter of the other Best Actress nominees being the barrier that was broken, but more that it was the Academy that had formed the barrier. If any of them had won, they would have had just as much responsibility for holding back black actresses as Russell Crowe did for reading the envelope.
It seems to me that a lot of whites want to act like our nation’s racial strife is a thing entirely of the past and that at this point now we should just ignore race. Fact is, people, race matters. Blacks as a group are still living with the effects of slavery and Jim Crow laws in addition to years of institutional discrimination. It is far from inappropriate for Berry to comment on the historical context of her award, or for Denzel to say “two birds in one night”.
This is one of the more illogical sentences I’ve come across recently. No one thinks that other white actors have conspired against black actors to keep them from winning awards, unless there is some sort of secret organization in Hollywood that I don’t hear about around my part of the country.
That Hollywood, for all its messages of tolerance and equality, continues to be an elitist and segregated community. Remember, we hadn’t even put a person on the moon when a black last won an Academy Award. It’s been a long damn time and I don’t see any problem in making it an issue.
Was slavery fair to African natives? Were Jim Crow laws fair to blacks? Is it fair that more young black men are in jail than in college? I don’t know where people get this delusional idea that whites are constantly being held back by blacks. Perhaps an idea like that makes it easier to ignore the truth?
Ah, the tautological argument. There aren’t any good black roles so they’re not given awards so they’re not given any roles. And the answer to your question is no, that is not the case. I somehow doubt that there has not been a single award-worthy role for blacks over the past 36 years. Instead, I think the issue is that movie-goers feel that they don’t “connect” with “black” films. White movies are for everyone apparently, but black movies are just for blacks. The Academy responds to what the public chooses to a certain extent, so their failure to recognize achievements by black actors is reflective of the public’s failure to recognize them as well.
The most insidious thing about the fact that it had been so long without awarding blacks is that it required no particularly overt racism but rather simple discomfort. Show of hands now, how many people saw “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”? Uh huh, now how many saw “Sleepless In Seattle.” What’s my point there? My point is that there is a lot of preselection which has served to limit blacks over the years, and these awards will maybe help people feel more comfortable with seeing movies that perceive as “black movies.”
Sheesh, that’s more than I planned on writing. Gotta go to class.
