“There’s no business like show business.”
Cagney shoved a grapefruit in Mae Clare’s face, creating lots of buzz, that quickly cooled, but froze that scene forever as film history. I presume whatever outrage one felt at the time, was mitigated by this classic comeback – look at all the people who were shot, stabbed, blown up, poisoned or pushed to their deaths, not to mention, war scenes where thousands die and recreations of all the disasters and violent events in the world, which, along with love stories is the bread and butter of filmmaking. How many did Mr. Smith, the actor kill and mutilate in multiple special effects science fiction movies, after his great performance in Six Degrees of Separation’
During the biggest news event since World War II, there was another Academy Awards ceremony, where there was the slap, occurring while the most immoral tyrant since Hitler in another of his brutal attacks, kills, maimes and rapes, in the name of Mother Russia.
But the Oscars has drama and spectacle too, as well as, politics, with the politics of identity, taking center stage for many years now. Spike Lee’s predictable win for best screenplay, (I actually came close to betting on it, in Jersey, but when I heard the tax rate on winnings, pulled out, but it was clearly a guaranteed win) when he jumped up on Samuel Jackson, in a custom-made Kobe Bryant tribute tux, made me wonder. I guess that’s one of the reasons for the show’s popularity, which can produce some very dramatic speeches by recipients, while being shown live, often with periods of spontaneity, and, sometimes, surprises – jumping into the arms of an actor in the pure joy of winning.
But nothing like the slap that, for an entire week, took over from the War in Ukraine, the greatest and most immoral historical event since World War II, and is probably, now, the most memorable thirty seconds of any awards show, even Kanye West’s, truthful, but obnoxious condemnation of Taylor Swift, as compared to Beyonce.
It reminds me when John Ford won the academy award in 1940 for the Grapes of Wrath. Dressed as a leprechaun, he leaped onto the stage and into the arms of John Wayne. Mr. Ford’s legs were wrapped around the body of Mr. Wayne who supported the director during his moment of glory and of course, comeuppance. I correct myself, the comeuppance generation was sixty years later.
In fact, Mr. Ford, born John Martin Feeney, usually shunned the awards ceremonies, even though he probably won more movie accolades than most, and the most Academy Awards for direction. He was one of eleven children, his father doing a wide variety of jobs, mostly menial and basic labor, with the exception of being a saloon-keeper and alderman. He married Mary McBride and was throughly Irish, which, of course, would appear in his films, but in a far different way than today with the IP and PC industry.
Yet, Mr. Lee, graduate of the N.Y.U. film programs, now feels comfortable with calling John Ford, a racist, particularly after his Academy Award for screenwriting. I presume he and others think awards are a form of credibility? While anything credible has to have been real in the first place.
Satire forces a bit of relativity. It’s unproductive to judge the past after some progression, from our renewed point of view. The past will never change, and should be looked at according to both where we are at today, and where others were at, when we weren’t anywhere to be found.
If you think awards give you credibility, which, unfortunately, they do, even though actual credibility occurs with no awards. But this is Hollywood and it’s a schizo place in culture with the crazy mirror, the camera. At least Mr. Ford had perspective, like when he generally stayed away from the limelight, let alone, being given an award. Of course, the person who received four Oscars for direction, and, helped many of his favorite actors receive many Oscars. No one was as blessed as Walt Disney who won the most overall, 26.
Look at John Huston’s The Bible, It’s Beginnings – man came directly from the earth (true) and as a young handsome white matinee idol with straight brown hair and blue eyes, looking more boyish Scandinavian than that of the Northern Africa ad the Middle East. John Huston, one of my favorite directors for his complete versatility and varied tastes, from high to low, makes a movie that was not that well received, a curiosity, and completely ridiculous. He knew better. But as a call to arms and punishment, you gotta be kiddin, because, if you think that way, you are a kid. If I’m gonna punish, pontificate and denigrate, it’s gonna be against something like Putin, the living cancer of our time.
And entertainers and film directors’ punishment should and usually is, condemnation in the court of public opinion. You did something stupid, for money, anger, whatever, you are permanently marked by having done something that is stupid, and, that makes us feel less stupid, even smart.
Speaking of the Bible, Will Smith at the height of his success, became “vulnerable to the devil” a metaphor that might hold, as long as this devil’s name is Will Smith, caught with his ego afloat in a celebrity bubble.
Well, it ain’t the Tracy Chapman era anymore. Grammys go to a much different theme than the social concerns of Chapman or Hornsby or, maybe even, Bono. Today’s themes, often, musically, recognize the unregulated capitalism flowing in the Second Gilded Age, particularly folks like JZ, who knew cash from the drug trade already, but it’s not much compared to the loot he’s garnered above ground, and in that mix, he’s gained, to the tune of the one billion. Drey, got a cool billion from Apple for his headsets, not necessarily his music. Seinfeld is worth a billion and others in entertainment. It’s no joke when it comes to money made pleasurably.
“Our war is not just a war of two countries or two peoples,” said Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy minister of defense. “It is a war of civilization against medieval barbarism. … The war and the fight are not just for Ukraine.” That’s not identity politics, but universalizing what’s common to us all.
After Pulp Fiction it became clear that movies officially, had established, the movies about movies, genre by people who grew up deep into them. Coincidentally, 25 years later it was honored on the night of the Slap Happy Pappy who wins the best acting award, within an hour of slapping Mr. Rock.
If, all I saw of this Academy Awards was the slap, which is all I saw, to be real, its seemed, or came across as though, it was a mostly Black event. Over and over I heard how it was also the first Oscars produced by a Black man, and, during the buildup I heard that Ms. Berry’s heart was broken because there were no Black actresses in the best actor category.
During a long period of time, the call for diversity, particularly, Blacks, has taken a precedent, here, and has been a continuing theme of this institution. Something not happening at the Grammy Awards whose “diversity” is sorta through the roof. What about country? Kid Rock opens his shows with a video from his friend, D. T., and there’s no demand that the country genre have more “diversity.”
You can definitely evaluate sports figures. To simplify, the person who scores the most points is the best and the greatest, but evaluating art and culture as the best in a category, we all know, is absurd, and that’s precisely why some watch the Oscars, to experience something surreal, and, witness the spectacle. It’s the king of awards ceremonies, even with the pumped up, over the top show-biz-on-steroids plague of awards shows that keeps growing, all with roots to the original, the Academy Awards. Academy? It seems some members could use some time at the academy of relativity, to develop the self to function outside his or her own little world, that seems so big while in your celebrity bubble, that you can speak so publicly about your vagina, while taking umbrage at hair jokes, to the point of your husband smacking a fellow comedian actor, instead of pulling him aside after, and in private, and letting him have it verbally or just busting Rock’s balls every chance he gets, like the lame public rap wars.
Highfalutin, but, taken for granted as ordianry, the ridiculousness, part of the entertaiinmnet, of naming Names as the best of a category? I mean, i always loved Biggie, but naming his album Ready To Die the all-time best, is just another absurdity, like naming your favorite food as the absolute best, not for you, but for the world. At least, Biggie was livin it, and the title was lived to the death. Anyways the whole affair is questuonable, even witout the slap. If you buy ino something, impossibly subjective, you’re a bit of a fool.
Wearing gowns and custom-made outfits that cost more than most make in a year is quite the parade. Spike, an uneven filmmaker, wins for a film that was ok, wasn’t great, but was in line with the times. What will happen if he ever gets best director? What will be his outfit? Will he jump on someone and and make that person hold him, even while he delivers his acceptance speech as best director? The Academy Awards, with so many dramatic and over the top acceptance speeches, is simply an amazing display of performances, by those whose lives are defined as performers. It’s all part of the spectacle and attraction.
With media we have evolved into a situation where the celebrities get equal time, interest, weight and billing, to the world’s greatest, even most tragic events, that are documenting themselves in real time, with history unfolding before us. The slap became of equal attention and weight to the Putin War for a week? And it wasn’t a racial insult or anything to do with identity politics. Probably just ego, being out of touch or grounded by nothing real, or that isn’t contrived.
“Toxic masculinity” was part of the Rorshac fun we had with all this, as everyone could unload, but, for myself, it was someone – I don’t care about race, gender, class or religion or ethnicity – who, let himself be an asshole briefly. I’ve done that. Who hasn’t, even once they become a man or a woman? However I’ve never done nuthin as stupid as slapping Chris Rock, in public on global television, and, as an adult. I never reached that level of not thinking and pure reaction.
Just days later, in, yet, another awards show, the Grammys, Zelensky showed up remotely, no one slapped anyone or cried about the lack of more black nominees. Jean Baptiste, talented beyond belief, pulled off a tremendous performance something that was satisfyingly over the top, and done really well, live and in real time. It was a masterpiece and, fit with the times, it was over the top.
Later Mr. Baptiste would say, graciously “I believe this to my core, there is no best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor,” he said. “The creative arts are subjective and they reach people at a point in their lives when they need it most. It’s like a song or an album is made and it’s almost like it has a radar to find the person when they need it the most.”
As a filmmaker it’s one thing to sit at home and marvel or wonder about the Academy Awards show, and it’s another thing if you are part of the show yourself and, to some degree, by being there, buy into the fact that you are making culture compete for something, compounded by the fact that it’s all subjectivity, taste, time and place. To be considered one of the greats, by your colleagues, the talent show and competition is both for the least and most successful of people. But it’s often entertaining.
I figure if you’re there and a part of this particular institution, a good part of you, if not all of you, is narcissistic, or, as Denzel Washington put it, “…the devil got hold of him that night.” The devil, more commonly known as your ego, got a hold of you, as well as, your lack of connection to reality and being grounded, is what got hold of you. That’s what happens when one loses relativity from life in a bubble. You were the devil, not some metaphoric third person personification of evil and trouble.
Awards competitions for art and pop art is inherently goofy and stupid, and that’s why some watch this stuff. It’s a parade of narcissism that folks who might have character and connection to reality, find entertaining, although not for the reasons presumed by the producers.
Will Smith, who did so much for bringing fine acting into extremely high budget special effects hero movies, got his academy award for a straight drama, with no computer effects, that, coincidentally, occurred on the same night he lost it, in reality and real time, acting as if he was a super-hero defending the honor of a woman and a wife, unfortunately, not against a violent perpetrator with bad intent, but a goofy comedian, and a mediocre joke, that was probably harmlessly directed.
It’s hard to keep the celebrity’s narcissists’ lives out of mind when their lives and doings compete with the most serious news of the world, often overshadowing it. Attention to celebrity is as ubiquitous as oxygen and hard to keep out of your life because of that saturation.
Before the slap, and, because of the ubiquitous media attention to celebrity, I had already heard some ridiculous things, usually considered private, from Ms. Smith/Pinkett, like the rejuvenation of her vagina, and then, when, her and her mother squatted over some new-age vapor-maker, with mumus on, squatting over some contraption sending healing vapors into their exposed vaginas – in public, on the air, with some sort of Afro-hippie lady. A person, who has the potential of reaching millions of people, speaks in detail of her now rejuvenated vagina and squats over some new age vaginal vapor contraption in yet another vaginal care scheme. Extreme self-care? Or some brand of weird narcissism, I don’t know. I mean there’s plenty going on in the world now, like unbelievable and irrational hatred, and I don’t know why anyone would want to speak so much of the their genitals, to hair loss, but I ain’t Hollywood.
Speaking openly and honestly to the world about your vagina? How about Putin talking about nuclear attack, which was the big event when The Slap, made the media work on that for a week straight, instead of the biggest news story since Hitler.
Ms. Pinkett’s worth is 50 million, while Mr. Smith’s fortune in seven times that. It’s interesting that, while Black billionaires exist, they are often concentrated in entertainment and sports, while white billionaire’s usually come right out of finance and are more likely to own the sports teams and produce the movies that are all worth into the multi-billions. Anyways, when your worth is getting to 500 million, no matter your color, that’s another world. O.J. and Jacko taught us that skin color might be mitigated by being able to afford the best lawyers, not to mention that Mr. Jackson became quite pale compared to his genetic siblings with the exception of Janet, and O.J. was, it seems, as much part of white society, as Black. He had a wife, he murdered, Nicole Brown, and as an actor on, his films were not much about Black identity or white oppression, politics or anything like that, just entertainment.
During the run-up to the Oscars, Sean Penn was advocating a boycott unless Ukraine’s Zelensky could be heard, which, during these times, is like expecting Tracy Chapman to win another Grammy. Mr. Penn, the swashbuckling, concerned Zelig of world events – from Chapo to Ukraine – is, at least interesting, and, perhaps, selfless to some degree. That guy is in contact and concerned about things that is the the flip of the slap, or any sort of competitive ego weirdness, that might happen as a result of having no contact outside the big bubble of celebrity. What did happen was the slap actually robbed fellow actors of their moment, and stole the attention that the Ukrainian war had garnered, replacing it with a petty feud by some of the most pampered, spoiled, privileged members of society.
Prior to the same Academy Awards, Ms. Halle Berry lamented the lack of black actors nominated for best actress. She described it as heartbreaking, although Will Smith won for best actor and DeBose won for supporting actress, seemingly, if you’re into keeping score, satisfying the goals of better representation in catching awards, lame-ass awards.
A typical modern response to these Academy Awards, written in the student newspaper of Fordham University, a Catholic institution, although run by the Jesuits, “Her win marks the first time an openly queer woman of color has won an Academy Award and its also the first time two actresses have won for playing the same role in two different films.” And, “DeBose is the first openly queer Afro Latina to win an acting Oscar, and she delivered an emotional and powerful speech about the importance of embracing your identity.”
This is where so many are right now, aligning identity politics and political correctness with movies or even art.
In the seventies the Awards were interrupted famously by a streaker. Not that big of a deal but when Marlon Brando, staying at home, had Littlefeather, have her say, standing in for him, that was a big deal, and the beginning of the official push for that direction that Mr. Brando was suggesting, although it’s having a hey day today, gaining steam the last twenty years.
Wayne reportedly said after the awards ceremony, “If [Brando] had something to say, he should have appeared that night and stated his views instead of taking some little unknown girl and dressing her up in an Indian outfit.”
When Clint Eastwood presented the Best Picture award at the same event, he remarked that he was presenting it “on behalf of all the cowboys shot in John Ford westerns over the years.”
Being smart, having street smarts or or objective is not synonymous with the show.
Later, the 88th ceremony of the Academy Awards drew criticism for lack of diversity in nominations; actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who boycotted the ceremony, cited Littlefeather as inspiration to do so. In fact Littlefeather had no Indian dna, and was Spanish. Perhaps she deserves the Academy Award for best acting.
Sean Penn’s request to recognize Ukraine and listen to Zelensky at the Oscars was simply outdated. It’s been a long time now and identity politics and political correctness has been the running theme, certainly not selflessness, and some of the “old” concerns attached to social concerns outside of PC and IP modes, which, since Lightfeather has come to dominate the politics at work in the awards scene.
“The devil goes, ‘Oh no leave him alone, he’s my favorite.’ Conversely, when the devil comes at you, maybe it’s because he’s trying to do something right. And for whatever reason the devil got a hold of him that night,” he said.”Well, there’s a saying when the devil ignores you, then you know you’re doing something wrong,” Washington said in a video. “And for whatever reason, the devil got a hold of that circumstance that night.” And he also, said, “At your highest moment be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.”
The devil, because he was at a high point in his life, did it. That ain’t the devil, it’s Will Smith who had a devil of an ego that night. What kind of bull shit explanation is that?
It ain’t the type of swagger, Eric Adams endorses and as far any devil’s involvement, I don’t know what to say.
Slapping isn’t only peculiar to humans. Penguins, cats, turtles and even walruses are known for slapping their fellow species, but it is the American beaver who, by far, is built for slapping, although it’s usually water that is slapped and is about noise as a warning, making beavers smarter than humans, on this level and, as demonstrated by Will Smith, and many fellow animals, when it comes to aggression. At least the beaver, like a rattlesnake, gives you a fair warning, although the beaver’s warning isn’t backed by a lethal bite or venom and will warn you first when their territory is being perceived as violated. Whales will resort to communicating with each other by slapping the water when wind and noise drowns out their normal vocal means of communication. And what a way of communicating it can be.
All Mr. Smith had to do is a little heckling, perhaps, but I would have waited until later, and in private.
Turtles are amongst the biggest of slappers for the purpose of communication. An expert on turtles says, “What looks like your turtles slapping each other is actually their normal behavior. Turtles are commonly caught slapping each other for one of two reasons; for mating ritual, or the larger turtle exerting its dominance over the smaller turtle.”
If it were 1780, Smith and Rock might have settled their differences with AR-15s at dawn, on the beaches of Malibu.
Or go make movies modeled after the most slap happy of comedians, the Stooges. Slap Masters that they were, the one done by Mr. Smith was the one heard around the world, and, the most regretted.
Https//www.youtube.com/watchv=Mw0riLqQBj0
The white glob of folks, without distinctions? Who, in fact, contain so much difference in religions, ethnicities and culture, it’s not funny. For instance, the difference between Russians and Ukrainians, Bosnians and Serbians, Irish Catholic and Irish Protestant. Amongst whites, is the entire political spectrum. Obama could not be elected by 13% of the voters, and, naturally, it took a huge percentage from the white glob to ensure that he became our president.
What’s weird is that so many who voted Obama for two terms, became huge Trump supporters, and, probably, were responsible for his only win at president. The woman who was shot in the neck, trying to enter the Capitol, and died fit that bill entirely – from Obama to Q.
We don’t ask for more diversity in country music. Do we view it as inherently white? More diversity in basketball or hockey? Do we see these sports as innately tied to a certain race?
Hollywood is a very different world, particularly for those who are in it fully. After trying to avoid any knowledge of the Depp/Heard fight, its ubiquity, let some things trickle in, unfortunately, like the brutal nonsense of famed actors, which is completely ridiculous and just, disheartening, but nothing new, and, Depp, by ruining his own reputation, won.
The saga continues, as wealthy Hollywood celebrities share their health problems with the world, including dragging out a family who had a daughter who committed suicide over her hair loss. There are other reasons why folks lose their hair, and go bald – there is a trend to shave heads. There’s also going bald, although more common in men, it afflicts women as well, and there’s chemo for cancer, which attacks the bodies fastest growing cells, like hair. I, as a write this, am having this experience, and I do not care, I have to live, to write this stuff.
It comes down to the old adage about glass houses. Using your vagina and using your head. shoud be linked.
https://nypost.com/2022/04/19/msnbc-analyst-malcolm-nance-heads-to-ukraine-to-fight-russia/
https://www.etonline.com/jada-pinkett-smith-breaks-down-over-12-year-old-girl-who-committed-suicide-due-to-alopecia
