Sunday, February 28, 2016

Shut up Chris Rock

So I'm watching the Oscars and am waiting what host Chris Rock would say about the lack of people of color in the acting categories. And his monologue was funny but went on too long about the lack of blacks in cinema. I mean the whole thing was about that. Then he insulted the first presenters Emily Blunt and Charlize Theron by making a joke about Emily and saying she's accompanied by somebody even whiter. These actresses didn't need to be insulted like that. They can't help it if they are white.

Then there was the first filmed skit. It featured scenes from this year's movies with black actors interrupting the scenes with jokes about not being in these films. Not funny. Why? The type of racism that they portray is not present. For example, NASA would not abandon an astronaut on Mars because he was black. Maybe that's funny in Blazing Saddles when that type of racism existed but not now.

Then Chris Rock decided to say something about one actor who was not nominated. Michael Jordan. When Rock introduced Jordan, he said he should have been nominated. Really? Does that mean the other actors in the Best Actor category were not deserving? Maybe you want a quota system? It insults the performances of the actors who were nominated in this category. Then there was the unfunny Black Moment in Film sketch. And then there was the video piece where Rock interviews black people about the controversy. That skit come at almost two hours later! Sigh.

Enough Chris Rock. Shut up. It was just two years ago that Lupinta Nyong'o won an Oscar for 12 Years a Slave. Hollywood is the most liberal segments of our society. They have pushed diversity for years. Sure, there are problems getting more people of color in film. I do want more people of color to be considered for roles that don't require a particular race.

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