Posted on 02/28/2005 3:51:30 PM PST by missyme
At the Oscar awards, what was not said was probably more interesting than what was.
Hollywood's big night on Sunday was beamed to the world with a five-second time delay, and broadcaster ABC ordered some controversial quips cut before the show, sparking debate about how far political correctness should go and freedom of speech controlled.
Comedian Robin Williams said it all when he walked on stage with a piece of white tape over his mouth.
Williams was to have performed a song lampooning conservative critic James C. Dobson, whose group had criticized cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants for appearing in a video it branded "pro-homosexual."
He was going to do it by concentrating on the dark underside of other cartoon characters, asking, for example whether Casper the Friendly Ghost wore that white sheet as a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
Marc Shaiman, who wrote Williams' original routine, said he decided to withdraw the material after ABC raised objections that would have led to him re-writing 11 of 36 lines. ABC declined to comment.
"It's ironic because I feel the song is silly and the situation is silly and yet on the other hand it's extremely serious," Shaiman told Reuters from New York. "This is the most blatant, immature censorship that I've ever come across."
Williams did eventually develop an act questioning cartoon characters' sexuality. But it was a pale imitation of some of the lines originally planned and he looked pained performing it.
"The show lost what would have been the best minute-and-a-half they would have had last night," said Shaiman, before adding: "Where does the buck stop?"
Chris Rock, the edgy black comedian called in to host the show, and, some say, to boost flagging ratings, was also in trouble long before the Oscars got under way.
He previously joked that straight, black men did not watch the Oscars, drawing an angry response from commentators like Jake Lamar, an African American who called Rock's comments "a massive generalization" and "depressing."
Then Oscar producer Gil Cates weighed in, calling ABC's decision to introduce a time delay in transmitting from Kodak Theatre a "terrible idea" and a concession to political correctness.
IT BEGAN WITH A BARE BREAST
Federal regulators may boost fines for U.S. broadcasters following last year's infamous Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" by singer Janet Jackson in which she bared her breast.
Earlier this month the U.S. House of Representatives voted to raise the maximum indecency fine to as much as $500,000 from $32,500.
On the one hand, commentators predict that the more networks are forced to sanitize shows, the less people will be inclined to watch.
But at the same time, the more a show's producer warns viewers they may be offended, the more they are likely to tune in.
"The entertainment industry is figuring out how to spin and use this paranoia we've encountered since the Super Bowl," said Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University.
"People wanted to make sure they were present if the next Janet Jackson moment happened."
In the end Rock's content was political and racial but avoided becoming the main issue on the night.
Thompson said Rock's natural instinct would have been to go much further with his humor, but he had too much to lose.
"He is going to play by the house rules," he said. "He realizes that certain compromises have to be made."
Williams was not available to comment on his act at the Oscars, but he told the New York Times on Friday:
"For a while you get mad, then you get over it. They're afraid of saying Olive Oyl is anorexic. It tells you about the state of humor. It's strange to think: How afraid are you?"
The initial ratings looked good, but like the exit polls in November, they were skewed. Turns out the ratings for the AAs were down.
On another Oscar thread, it was said that the ratings were 5% lower than last year's show.
oh..ok then
Right now entertainment is one of America's largest exports. Movies are now made for an international market, which explains the reliance on sex, action, violence, etc. Comedy often doesn't translate to other cultures.
Hollweird ruined their own reputations, bank accounts, and reputations, they should be scared.
The promoton of the Oscars this year has just been non-stop. Even the day after, the promoters got out the early word that "the ratings were up".
But that was just the ratings from the large cities. The Blue States. Later this afternoon they got the results from the rest of the country and it turns out the Red states turned off in droves and the ratings were actually down.
read later
They're making more money than ever. It's very difficult to lose money in Hollywood these days...
Hollywood has gotten into an "us vs. them" mentality, and we - conservatives, traditionalists - are "them." When half of the country feels that the Oscars are likely to be used as a platform to mock their values or their political choices, they tune out. Plus, so many of the entertainers are simply boring as individuals; without a script, they have nothing to say. And finally, speaking as a male, none of the actresses have feminine bodies anymore; they've got these dresses down to their navels, but they've got nothing to show.
"On the one hand, commentators predict that the more networks are forced to sanitize shows, the less people will be inclined to watch."
I fail to see how this would be a bad thing.
Exactly.Why Broadcast Journalism is
Unnecessary and Illegitimate
That's "alleged" comedian.
Thanks
With the exception of Scarlett Johannsen (sp?), I agree :)
Rock cannot speak a line without an obscenity. To have been made to do so must have left him virtually speechless and he had to resort to asinine and lame political jokes about Bush. Whatta disaster! Old George Eastman must be spinning in his grave knowing of the immoral indecencies characterized by the Hollyweirds being given awards in the Kodak Theater.
Right. So figure you're a Hollywood executive. You know that something like more than half of the profits will come from Asia, South/Central America, and Western Europe. You have two scripts in front of you:
Script A: An action adventure movie with a Brad Pitt type character and no less than a half dozen exotic cars blowing up on a beach in South California filled with bikini clad babes with Matrix-like special effects.
Script B: A "side-splitting" gentle comedy that takes place in an Amish community.
Both movies cost $100 million to make and if you choose wrong, then you get to be fired and known as the guy who made the "Amish comedy."
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