Rockin' The Oscars?

So, the Oscars went on last night with a bit of a hitch. The show was hosted by Chris Rock, who spent most of his time to throwing bucketfuls of white guilt over the audience. Rock, of course, was addressing the "lack of diversity" among the nominees in the major categories. (I wonder if he'll address the lack of diversity at the BET Awards?)

At times, the comedian hit below the belt with his "jokes". Rock pointed out that the Academy Awards has been ignoring black folks for a long time. He "explained" that the reason blacks didn't protest back in the day is because they were too busy "being raped and lynched". He went on to say that "when your grandmother is hanging from a tree. it's hard to care about the best documentary film short". Amazingly, this generated a round of clueless laughter from the audience.

Protesting the "lack of diversity" at the Oscars is one thing. But do we really need to re-open wounds from decades ago? Furthermore, if we are going to go there, when did it become appropriate to yuck it up over the lynching of someone's grandmother? Liberals are usually ultra thin-skinned about all things race-related. But somehow they think this is funny? I'm lost....

Additionally, I can't help to find it ironic that Hollywood, of all places, is being accused of racism. For years, this bastion of liberal elitists has preached to us about social ills. Has the pot been calling the kettle black all this time? Well, it sure sounds that way.

Speaking of irony (or maybe it's hypocrisy), Chris Rock has made a living out of using the n-word in his performances. And now he's going to lecture us on racism? Hey, can someone please protest this guy? I know, I know, it's different when Chris Rock uses the n-word. Umm, ok......

Chris also got into a little hot water with the Asian community. Introducing three "representatives" from Price Waterhouse (the group that tabulates the Oscar votes), Rock used three Asian kids as props. They entered the stage dressed in tuxedos and carrying briefcases. The "joke" was that Asian kids were good at math. For good measure, he also threw in a joke referencing child labor in Asia. So, now it's ok to joke about ethnic stereotypes?

Is there any wonder why this was the 3rd lowest viewed Oscar shows ever? Perhaps that's an indication that people don't feel like listening to political grandstanding for three hours.

So, does racism really play a part in determining who gets nominated for an Academy Award? Is it possible that maybe the actual nominees are just better actors?  Who knows? But I'm pretty sure I've wasting enough time talking about it.....

kw