THE OSCARS!!! Live Thread.... Hosted by The GUILD.

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[LWalk18]

She doesn't mixed....Colin Powell is lighter than she is and has two black parents. Like I noted above, her white mother told her that she must think of herself as a black woman. Who are you to question what her mother sees her as. I didn't know she was mixed until I read it somewhere, and most people would not know it either.

[budwiesest]

Just another night at the Races.

[dougherty]

Double barf!!

[Diddle E. Squat]

The sad thing is that if Halle had just accepted her award with class, so many more people would be happy for her. The groundbreaking aspect of it would have been noted, and then we would have moved on. But when she keeps babbling on and on with over-the-top embellishments(did she ACTUALLY beleive that no Black would win in her lifetime?) and shoving the race factor down our throats, it just turns off so many people. Honestly, I think this is the kind of thing that keeps racism from dying out.

[Restorer]

Fascinating coversation.

She looks like a black woman and no one can deny that.

A great many people would deny it, if given the opportunity. She would not be classed as "black" in Brazil, certainly. In South Africa, under apartheid, she would have been a classic "colored." In black Africa, she would be considered an American, not an African, and would probably be thought of as white by most Africans.

You say she looks like a "black woman." I say, with I think a great deal more accuracy, that she looks like a beautiful blend of European and African ancestry, with the mix trending strongly towards the European side as far as features go. She is also obviously considerably closer to the extreme of "white" than the extreme of "black" in skin color.

I have noticed something particularly fascinating about black TV shows and movies. Most of these shows are made by blacks, for blacks. Almost without exception, the woman in every couple is noticeably lighter in color and more "white" in features than the man.

What do you think drives this phenomenon?

[Jorge]

if a person doesn't fit into black or white categories, she's gonna FORCE her into one of them. She won't accept mixed race as mixed race.

How true!

[rbmillerjr]

based on what you are saying...it would be fair for me to say that all you have accomplished has been due to you being a preferenced minority. Is that really the chip you want to bear?

[mafree]

First you say Halle looks black, and then you say she took black roles that should have gone to more "black looking" actresses.

Make up your mind.

Let me say this slowly so that you get it- Halle Berry is Black- no denying this. However, there are variations in skin color, features and hair and people do have images of what a Black person looks like, especially when it comes to trying to cast a Black person. She doesn't look as Black as certain other Black actresses so she was initially rejected for roles by casters who didn't think she looked Black enough. That doesn't mean she's not Black. Understood?

[Poincare]

Oh, cut her some slack, SAlly Field lost it too.

I don't care if she lost it personally. What I said had to do with her bringing race to the fore. For example when she was going long she justified her continued talking "for the 75 years that went before." I don't question her talent, but she's just another hollywood entertainment worker that is just plain naive about politics. I get tired of it.

[LWalk18]

Exactly, I don't understand why some people are getting upset about this, the Oscars have always been about politics and popularity. I am happy for Halle and Denzel, but I would have just as happy if Nicole and Russell had won; I like all four actors, as well the other nominees. These awards are not worth getting upset about.

[ValerieUSA]

The movie, A Beautiful Mind, is very long as it is, and with a very complicated story that was masterfully crafted for the screen. Who could have sat through another hour of even more complicated twists in this mind? It was enough. As the MOVIE stands (not the man, Nash, but the movie) it is excellent and complete.

[dougherty]

Maybe some people believe in a color blind society and are just getting sick of everything being about race.

True, but some people will milk their race for all the freebies and passes they can get in life.

[oldvike]

I kinda thought the reporters were offensive. I mean, they were talking to Halle (sp?) like she was a little child who had just learned how to pee in the toilet. They were like "Good little Halle..... goood girl.....who's my little angel?.....good little black girl." It was demeaning to her, yet she lapped it up.

They tried to do the same thing to Denzel about 20 minutes ago and he was having none of it. Basically said that he won on his merrits and race be damned. Until Americans all have that attitude there will continue to be vicious divides on the issue of racial equality (kinda like what's happening on this thread right now).

[mafree]

The only history she made is in give the ABSOLUTELY WORST ACCEPTANCE SPEECH EVER lol

Oh wel, she won't get an Oscar for best acceptance speech. I can live with that.

[ValerieUSA]

The contortions you must put reality through to stand beside Halle as sistahs are amazing. You should join the Cirque de Soleil.

[Jorge]

"Explain what playa hatin means?"

We really need an interpreter to translate her posts. LOL

[mafree]

I am very glad for both Halle and Denzel tonight! I am also glad that good things - really major, remarkable things - have happened for people of color under the Bush administration.

The Democrats win elections by stirring up the "us v. them" mentality anywhere they can. And this year, with the historical appointments of Colin Powell and Condi Rice - and now, both top awards in the Oscar going this way ... it might help people realize that this administration will try to tear down every such wall.

I wouldn't mind seeing Bush given credit for all this but some just won't let him have that.