Posted on 02/27/2015 5:21:28 AM PST by Kaslin
The media noticed that this year's Oscars ceremony contained a lot of political tub-thumping, but they didn't notice that these speeches were predictable and obnoxious left-wing screeds.
They were just "passionate pleas for equality," according to the Associated Press. Actress Patricia Arquette unleashed a tirade on wage inequality for women. Singer John Legend said more black men were trapped in prison than America had black men trapped in slavery in 1850. There's apparently no difference between Kunta Kinte and Willie Horton.
On CNN, Entertainment Weekly writer Anthony Breznican represented the media fog on this one: "I can't really think of anything last night that was actually liberal." He wanted to pretend these were just compassion issues, not ideological issues. When anchor Don Lemon retorted that "conservatives often complain about the issues and about these types of shows being issue-oriented," Breznican responded, "that's because they don't like to be bothered by these issues. They ... would rather not be confronted by them."
That kind of silliness explains why no one takes CNN seriously these days. Conservatives love a good "issue" discussion. They just don't like it in the middle of the Oscars or the Super Bowl. Most liberals don't either. Can't we just enjoy a big TV event without being lectured?
Let's consider a few reasons why political Oscar speeches are annoying to most Americans.
1. They're out of place in an acceptance speech. When ABC's Oscar telecast drones on for four hours, there's no time to mount a soapbox and yammer about politics. Say your thank-you's, and get off stage.
It's slightly less annoying when there's a special award where the recipient is expected to speak longer than the allotted 45 seconds. It's ridiculous when the politicking comes from non-winners. Recall the infamous 1993 incident with leftist actors Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins who started lecturing about Haiti ... as award presenters!
2. They're pompous and self-congratulatory. One of the most historic stunts was Marlon Brando sending Indian actress-activist Sacheen Littlefeather to refuse his Oscar in 1973 and denounce liberal Hollywood for mistreating the Indians. You won't win a popularity contest with that kind of tactic.
3. These actors didn't earn Ph.D.s in political science. Great actors, singers, directors and screenwriters may excel at what they do for a living, but few, very few, are experts on public policy. They sound like amateurs who want to win an argument just by emotional exploitation. "Why do you people hate women so much?"
4. They reek of limousine liberalism. When Patricia Arquette unloaded this year about wage equality for women, the biggest cheerleader on the TV screen was Meryl Streep. Arquette's net worth is estimated at $24 million, Streep's at $65 million. They aren't exactly living in a trailer park.
5. There is zero room for dissent. Instead, you get Michael Moore's 2003 screecher: "We like nonfiction and we live in fictitious times. We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elects a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons ... Shame on you, Mr. Bush. Shame on you."
The people who hated "You lie" at an Obama State of the Union speech never saw this as heckling. But it's the same message on a different stage.
We can't expect the Hollywood left to knock off the Oscar sermonizing. But they certainly can't expect America to like it.
These were carefully co-ordinated opening salvos for Hillary!’s presidential run—Setting various narratives that she will flog, ad nauseum, in the months ahead.
Most of them are not even good at their craft any more. They put on several award shows a year to congratulate themselves!
Which may explain why the Doogie Awards saw the worst audience ratings since Brian Williams’ home movies.
I watch the oscars to see barely clothed bimbos, certainly not to listen to the pseudo intellectual ramblings of third grade dropouts.
Anyone who watches for any other reason is merely fooling themselves. It boils down to a popularity and influence contest; art, good sense, good acting, directing and producing have very little to do with who gets an award.
Clint Eastwood didn't get an oscar, but is receiving an even better award - nearly $500 Million in box office receipts.
Mencken on actors, from Prejudices Second Series below. I love the description of actors: “ awalking artificiality, strutting dummy, thematic catalogue of imbecilities!”
“The Cerebral Mime Of all actors, the most offensive to the higher cerebral centers is the one who pretends to intellectuality. His alleged intelligence, of course, is always purely imaginary: no man of genuinely superior intelligence has ever been an actor. Even supposing a young man of appreciable mental powers to be lured upon the stage, as philosophers are occasionally lured into bordellos, his mind would be inevitably and almost immediately destroyed by the gaudy nonsense issuing from his mouth every night. That nonsense enters into the very fiber of the actor. He becomes a grotesque boiling down of all the preposterous characters that he has ever impersonated. Their characteristics are seen in his manner, in his reactions to stimuli, in his point of view. He becomes a walking artificiality, a strutting dummy, a thematic catalogue of imbecilities.”
Incidentally Truman Capote thought them a dumb lot also. Capote on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
Carson: “Oh c’mon, you can’t mean all actors are stupid?”
Capote: “Yes, I mean all actors are stupid.
Carson: “Well, what about Jill St. John? She supposedly has an IQ of 140.”
Capote: “That’s easy. She’s a terrible actress.”
I’m old enough to remember Vanessa Redgrave reciting an anti-Zionist screed while accepting an Oscar, and getting roundly booed. Then Paddy Chayefsky came on to present one and smacked her butt down, saying how he ‘was tired of Oscars being platforms for political screeds’-and got a standing o. How times have changed.
One of the few bright lights in the Oscars was for the movie “American Sniper”, which got only at best 1 or 2 awards, that was it.
I don’t watch award shows with the exception of CMA’s and I only watch that one because I enjoy the music. But think about it. These award shows are designed to give a bunch of attention seekers awards voted on by other attention seekers. “Let’s pat ourselves on the back”. That’s why I don’t care. I don’t watch them.
.....And afterwards when a conservative GOPer comes into the White House to have to start the cleaning up process.
I watched the Oscars this time because I wanted to see how many Oscars American Sniper did get and especially the best movie award. As soon as I heard it did not go to the movie, I changed the channel
Capote: “That’s easy. She’s a terrible actress.”
LOL! Not to mention her other assets...
I watch a lot of reality shows, just because nothing else is on. At the end of a work day, what else is there to do? By then I am tired of reading, thinking being rational etc. I grew up with two mostly miserable people and I just refuse to be miserable. People mock other people on here for even watching TV. I say to each his own.
But I will say that when an actor or actress spouts off and it annoys me, I have a very hard time ever taking them as a character again. The latest case is Liam Neeson.
Is that his name? Anyway, he spouted off about there being to many blanking guns in America. Well number one, you sir are not an American, so if you don't like it, there is the door. Number two, your new movie is out and it is yet again a movie that involves lots of shooting and guns.
So now I will never be able to enjoy a movie with Liam Neeson in it, because all I will be thinking about his is foolish screed. So they really are to blame for me not going to movies. In order to suspend rational thought and enjoy a good story, I must watch an actor that has not distracted from his ability to play a character.
Especially about the hypocrisy of Liam Neesan.
Yes... I have same problem...and same with “friends or acquaintance”....I cant get past their politics because it tells me so much...they are either liberal sickos or ignorant.
Let's take Tom Hanks for example. I suspect he is a full out left wing nut bag. But so far he has not proved it. So I can still enjoy watching his movies. Ben Afflect on the other hand, who I thought was just an OK actor has been taken off the watch list. I just can't watch him.
We find ourselves watching certain things over and over again, maybe this is why. The reality shows can be far from reality, but at least they are entertaining. Stupid people tricks.
Yes indeed, perhaps the actresses are smarter than their male counterpoints. Checkout Hedy Lamarr:
“During her film career, Lamarr co-invented the technology for spread spectrum and frequency hopping communications with composer George Antheil.[3] This new technology became important to America’s military during World War II because it was used in controlling torpedoes. Those inventions have more recently been incorporated into Wi-Fi, CDMA and Bluetooth technology,[4][5] [6] and led to her being inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.”
No doubt about it, beauty and brains, but I can’t speak to her acting chops.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr
Who can forget when Brando did not accept his OSCAR for THE GODFATHER!
Marie Louise Cruz did and we thankfully did not have to listen to much of her screed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacheen_Littlefeather
She is showing a little bit more “cheek” than usual!
Snort!
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