The Annual Academy Awards - General Discussion

[Rootbeer]

2 hours ago, blackwing said:

  I'm trying to figure out why non-nominated Bradley Cooper got to sit in the front.  The people in the back section, are those notable actors and other people in the industry?  I wish we had gotten more shots of people in those seats, the only time I noticed anyone was Caitriona Balfe standing when Branagh won screenplay.

Bradley Cooper produced Nightmare Alley which was nominated for Best Picture.  I think each of the tables up front was reserved for a Best Picture nominee.  I would imagine there were a set number of seats at each table and the studios chose who amongst the cast and production would be sitting at each one.  Putting Bradley Cooper up front for a movie he produced was a no brainer even if the film had no chance of winning.

[DeeDee79]

On 3/29/2022 at 6:08 PM, RealHousewife said:

Exactly. He didn't even like to curse as a rapper. 

Except for when he recorded " You Saw My Blinker, Bitch" in the 90's which was about road rage against geriatrics and was riddled with ageism. Years before his "I don't curse in my records" speech. 

[Macbeth1966]

6 hours ago, yowsah1 said:

Given that Smith's excuse for his actions was exactly that, it's not surprising that many people came to that conclusion.

No, he didn't. Reports say he walked offstage and left the building. Nobody said a word to him.

The man was assaulted and nobody approached him backstage to see how he was?  That's inhumane.  

[Artsda]

So now the Academy say they asked him to leave but he refused? So Will gets to dictate and do what he wants? The Academy then allows him to stand on the stage and give a long speech without playing him off? That's not adding up. 

Chris Rock apologizing to Wanda is class act and aware of shit storm that occured. While Will went onto dance and party with no concern or self awareness.  That's why his fake apology the next day only after The Academy opened up their investigation was fake and by his PR team. 

Edited March 31, 2022 by Artsda

[Rebecca berkowit]

I think we are going to be hearing more about Mr. Smith’s mental state and/or marriage in the coming weeks.  And, as Jada would say, I’m here for it.  

[Guest]

6 hours ago, yowsah1 said:

No, he didn't. Reports say he walked offstage and left the building. Nobody said a word to him.

Those reports are wrong. In addition to Wanda saying Chris apologized to her, Regina and Amy, this picture was taken during the commercial break. 

[SusanM]

I am making no excuses for Will Smith but I have to admit I am becoming very uncomfortable with the pile on of hate that seems to be gathering steam and directed towards him and his family.  Shock and anger over what he specifically did at the Oscars is one thing but it seems to be going way beyond that now.

[yowsah1]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

Every time someone from the Academy opens their mouth they sound more and more dumb.  I’m so sorry Will was too much of a Hulk for you to be able to get him out of the building.

Did they even HAVE security?!

[yowsah1]

6 minutes ago, SusanM said:

I am making no excuses for Will Smith but I have to admit I am becoming very uncomfortable with the pile on of hate that seems to be gathering steam and directed towards him and his family.  Shock and anger over what he specifically did at the Oscars is one thing but it seems to be going way beyond that now.

The "pile on of hate" is because of the complete lack of consequences to Will Smith for what he did.  That's what people are angry about.

[dmeets]

The Academy needs to get their shit together because what’s being reported now is the opposite of what Will Packer and Whoopi have been saying. And what they’re saying now is making Will Smith look even worse. So then after slapping and throwing f bombs on international television, he then defiantly refuses to leave so that he can accept his award and give his vessel of God speech? And then laughed the rest of the night while dancing to his own music at the after party? If that’s what they’re saying actually happened, then yeah, hope he appreciates his Oscar because that’s now his lifetime achievement award.

That said I still think the latest statement is BS and that he wasn’t asked to leave, much less refused to leave. 

Edited March 31, 2022 by dmeets

[cardigirl]

https://variety.com/
 

Chris Rock in Boston. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, SusanM said:

I am making no excuses for Will Smith but I have to admit I am becoming very uncomfortable with the pile on of hate that seems to be gathering steam and directed towards him and his family.  Shock and anger over what he specifically did at the Oscars is one thing but it seems to be going way beyond that now.

I have some mixed feelings on this. On one hand I think he absolutely deserves the reasonable backlash from the majority of people. On the other hand it makes me deeply uncomfortable to know I am on the same side as some very blatant racist and misogynistic people.  

Edited March 31, 2022 by Guest
Typos galore

[Sweet Tee]

Quote

Seeing Maddie there representing WSS was so bizarre after the stuff with Rachel. Some speculated not inviting Rachel was I at least partially because of limited seating due to Covid but Maddie getting an invite blew that out of the water. 

That is weird.  I guess technically she's a bigger name than Rachel but I think she had all of one line in WSS.  Definitely weird that Paloma Garcia-Lee was there.  I've never heard of her before and Graziella is a very small part.  Her biggest contribution to the narrative is to be Riff's dance partner at the gym.  

I'm not gonna be hard on Rachel.  She's very young and new to this whole thing.  I don't blame her for wanting to go to the Oscars.  Maybe she wasn't aware why she wasn't invited and really felt hurt over it.

 

I also think it was very classy of Chris Rock to apologize to Wanda.  I believe both she and Amy feel sick over it.  I was watching on TV and I know none of these people and I felt uncomfortable all night.  

[Chit Chat]

44 minutes ago, SusanM said:

I am making no excuses for Will Smith but I have to admit I am becoming very uncomfortable with the pile on of hate that seems to be gathering steam and directed towards him and his family. 

He brought it on himself, plus, he laughed at the joke.    I wish no harm to him, but he was an ass.  Things will cool down and the media will move on to the next story soon enough.  

After reading a story about Chris and how he had to deal with bullying as a kid and his violent reaction to it, it really made me think about how this moment was probably very triggering for him.   Chris said that he was scared of his own anger.  Here he was on the world stage, and he gets attacked and now his reaction will be there for the world to see.  Can you imagine having all of those feelings come rushing back like you're right back there as a kid with the school bully in your face?  Why isn't anybody concerned with how Chris felt in that moment?  I applaud him for being able to compose himself and carry on.   

The Hollywood elites want to talk about stopping bullying, but yet they applauded the biggest bully in the room.  What a bunch of hypocrites.  

Having said that, if Chris knew that Jada had a medical condition, then his joke was really out of line, but he said he didn't know, so I will take him at his word.  Either way, it didn't make it right for Will to assault him and then cuss him out.  Will's actions went beyond the pale.  

 

[SusanM]

28 minutes ago, Dani said:

One the other hand it makes me deeply uncomfortable to know I am on the same side as some very blatant racist and misogynistic people.  

That's exactly it.  Some of the coverage I'm seeing is so over the top that he's starting to look sympathetic.  Somehow I don't think that's what they want.

[Bastet]

Chris Rock briefly addressed the issue at his first stand-up show since the Oscars.

Quote

“Whoa, okay!” he exclaimed upon entering the stage in an all-white suit. The standing ovation from the crowd thundered on before Rock made another effort to get the ball rolling for the evening: “Yo, let me do the show!”

After a few more moments of applause, Rock immediately addressed the elephant in the room.

“How was your weekend?” he began, drawing a wave of laughter. “I don’t have a bunch of shit about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I’m still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point I’ll talk about that shit. And it will be serious and funny.”

An audience member then chanted “Fuck Will Smith!” before Rock continued.

“I’m going to tell some jokes. It’s nice to just be out,” he said before beginning his material.

Edited March 31, 2022 by Bastet

[millennium]

1 hour ago, SusanM said:

I am making no excuses for Will Smith but I have to admit I am becoming very uncomfortable with the pile on of hate that seems to be gathering steam and directed towards him and his family.  Shock and anger over what he specifically did at the Oscars is one thing but it seems to be going way beyond that now.

We've been exposed to so many examples of the Smith family's over the top narcissism through the years that this seemed like an inevitable conclusion.     I think this has helped to fuel the backlash.   Speaking for myself, I've had my fill of celebrities getting away with deplorable shit just because they're pretty or can sing or dance or play a sport.

Edited March 31, 2022 by millennium

[Demian]

54 minutes ago, Sweet Tee said:

Definitely weird that Paloma Garcia-Lee was there.  I've never heard of her before and Graziella is a very small part.  Her biggest contribution to the narrative is to be Riff's dance partner at the gym.  

In the Spielberg remake (reimagining? Not sure how to describe it), Graziella had a bigger part than that, especially when Anita is attacked in the shop.  Paloma Garcia-Lee was pretty damn powerful in that absolutely ugly scene, and it made me reconsider everything I'd previously thought about the character.

(Full disclosure:  I think this 2021 version of West Side Story is so very much better than the original 1961 version, and a lot of its superiority has to do with the careful way they elevated all of the supporting characters, including Graziella.)

[AgathaC]

This has, apparently, been a big topic of discussion in my stepson’s fifth grade class. To my frustration, all Stepson can talk about is how Chris Rock shouldn’t have said what he did and Will Smith wasn’t all that wrong in what he did. No amount of discussion has shaken him. Hubby is frustrated. So, now I’m not just disgusted, I’m disturbed at either what “lesson” SS has learned or what this is revealing about how his brain works.

[Sweet Tee]

2 minutes ago, Demian said:

In the Spielberg remake (reimagining? Not sure how to describe it), Graziella had a bigger part than that, especially when Anita is attacked in the shop.  Paloma Garcia-Lee was pretty damn powerful in that absolutely ugly scene, and it made me reconsider everything I'd previously thought about the character.

 

You're right, it is elevated from the original.  And I do love that she and the other Jet girls tried to stop the assault in that scene.  But, it's still a small part and I'm unclear about why she got to go to the Oscars for it.  I'm not mad she was there or anything.  I've got no issues with her or the character.  It just seems odd to me.

[CountryGirl]

13 hours ago, Dani said:

I have some mixed feelings on this. On one hand I think he absolutely deserves the reasonable backlash from the majority of people. On the other hand it makes me deeply uncomfortable to know I am on the same side as some very blatant racist and misogynistic people.  

I’m on this page as well. I think there are far too many bandwagoners who couldn’t care less about what happened, except to the extent they can gleefully sharpen their pitchforks to further their racist and misogynistic agendas. 

I’m also not here for the throwing of stones by people who live in glass houses, including Jim Carrey, who sexually assaulted a then-19-year-old Alicia Silverstone at an awards ceremony, which is burned into my memory all these years later. He can sit his hypocrite self down and zip it. 

ETA:

Someone kissing you without your consent = sexual assault.

You do not have to say "no." You do not have to push them away or otherwise try to bodily remove yourself to negate their actions. 

And is this the face of someone who consented to being kissed?

The bottom line is it is irrelevant whether I think they consented or thought it was "okay." Because I am neither Alicia or Halle and to insert my opinion about what happened to them is me taking away as much agency from them, the actual women assaulted, now, as then. Although that has happened to me in real life more times than I'd care to remember and because those times happened to me before I had truly processed the trauma I had experienced as a CSAB survivor, I didn't do anything but stand there and wait for it to be over. But because I, like Halle Berry, panicked and "went with it," how does that mean it was okay? Or that I consented?

Alicia and Halle's thoughts are the only ones that matter, IMO.

They have made it crystal clear that they did NOT consent and that is good enough for me.

Alicia has called Jim a "hypocrite." Because he's right that Will's actions were terrible. Because, duh. He can talk about it all he wants.

However, for him to point fingers and decry Hollywood when he committed assault to the cheers of the crowd? Alicia and others are allowed to call him out as hypocritical.

 

[susannah]

2 hours ago, Dani said:

I have some mixed feelings on this. On one hand I think he absolutely deserves the reasonable backlash from the majority of people. On the other hand it makes me deeply uncomfortable to know I am on the same side as some very blatant racist and misogynistic people.  

I don't know why. Deeply disagreeing with someone committing a crime is the right way to feel. No one has any control over any other people who dislike the guy. It does not make you racist or misogynist.

1 hour ago, CountryGirl said:

I’m also not here for the throwing of stones by people who live in glass houses, including Jim Carrey, who sexually assaulted a then-19-year-old Alicia Silverstone at an awards ceremony, which is burned into my memory all these years later.

What?

[Anela]

5 minutes ago, susannah said:

I don't know why. Deeply disagreeing with someone committing a crime is the right way to feel. No one has any control over any other people who dislike the guy. It does not make you racist or misogynist.

What?

It was posted to twitter. He planted a massive kiss on her, when he won. Like Adrien Brody. 

Edited March 31, 2022 by Anela

[ProudMary]

Extended Twitter thread (19 tweets) from Joseph Monish Patel, one of the three Oscar winning producers of Summer of Soul, who talks about the events that occurred Sunday night. He's angry at both Will Smith and Chris Rock for different reasons in spoiling their win. 

For those who might not be able to read the entire thread in the original Twitter format, here's a link to the unrolled thread:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1509323149820805125.html

Edited to add: It seems that the Twitter thread has been removed. Whether this was done by Mr. Patel or by Twitter, I don't know. Instead, here is a link to the piece in Variety about Mr. Patel that originally led me to his Twitter thread:

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/summer-of-soul-chris-rock-oscars-1235219657/

Edited April 1, 2022 by ProudMary

[Anela]

2 hours ago, Dani said:

I have some mixed feelings on this. On one hand I think he absolutely deserves the reasonable backlash from the majority of people. On the other hand it makes me deeply uncomfortable to know I am on the same side as some very blatant racist and misogynistic people.  

I feel exactly the same way, and you've managed to say it better than I could. Thank you.

2 hours ago, ChitChat said:

He brought it on himself, plus, he laughed at the joke.    I wish no harm to him, but he was an ass.  Things will cool down and the media will move on to the next story soon enough.  

After reading a story about Chris and how he had to deal with bullying as a kid and his violent reaction to it, it really made me think about how this moment was probably very triggering for him.   Chris said that he was scared of his own anger.  Here he was on the world stage, and he gets attacked and now his reaction will be there for the world to see.  Can you imagine having all of those feelings come rushing back like you're right back there as a kid with the school bully in your face?  Why isn't anybody concerned with how Chris felt in that moment?  I applaud him for being able to compose himself and carry on.   

The Hollywood elites want to talk about stopping bullying, but yet they applauded the biggest bully in the room.  What a bunch of hypocrites.  

Having said that, if Chris knew that Jada had a medical condition, then his joke was really out of line, but he said he didn't know, so I will take him at his word.  Either way, it didn't make it right for Will to assault him and then cuss him out.  Will's actions went beyond the pale.  

 

I'm very impressed with his holding himself back from retaliation. I wondered how he was doing. 

[Anela]

14 hours ago, SusanM said:

Being able to talk about something personal to you, even joke about it yourself doesn't have to mean it's ok for someone else to do it to you. I mean just as one example I might be perfectly comfortable joking about being too short or too tall but that doesn't give someone else carte blanche to get up on stage and start mocking my height.  

Exactly. 

11 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

After learning that Will and his mother were victims of domestic violence, with Will witnessing his mother being beaten by his father, I really do hope he gets therapy as it is clear he still has demons.

Which I understand as I am a fellow DV survivor and therapy was a godsend for me. 

I've dealt with it, too, as a child

Spoiler

(once, when a man strangled me, and almost killed me)

, and as an adult - from a sibling, who was encouraged by her fiance/now-husband

Spoiler

. He sexually harassed me more than once, so we had an argument here and there, when I didn't want to be around him. When they got engaged, I was expected to let it go, and when I said I hadn't chosen to marry him, I got punished for not wanting him to stay in a house that we both lived in.

Long story, that should be told elsewhere, so I've put it in spoilers, also just in case anything is triggering. 

Anyway, I feel weird being in this thread, when I've barely seen any of the movies, and wasn't actually watching the show. I'm going to watch some of the movies that are on the streaming services I currently have, and will talk about them in their own threads. 

[PepSinger]

22 minutes ago, ProudMary said:

Extended Twitter thread (19 tweets) from Joseph Monish Patel, one of the three Oscar winning producers of Summer of Soul, who talks about the events that occurred Sunday night. He's angry at both Will Smith and Chris Rock for different reasons in spoiling their win. 

For those who might not be able to read the entire thread in the original Twitter format, here's a link to the unrolled thread:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1509323149820805125.html

I am so glad he spoke on what happened. It was shitty what both Will and Chris did. I remember hearing “four white guys” and seeing who came up on stage, and I was beyond confused.

[Vermicious Knid]

In non-Will Smith Oscars news; John Travolta and his son adopted the puppy Jamie Lee Curtis brought on stage for the Betty Smith tribute.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, ProudMary said:

Extended Twitter thread (19 tweets) from Joseph Monish Patel, one of the three Oscar winning producers of Summer of Soul, who talks about the events that occurred Sunday night.

Thank you for posting that.  Of the many shames resulting from the decisions of Rock and Smith, I haven't seen much of anything considering this perspective:

Quote

I think what Will did was selfish. It robbed the category of its moment. It robbed the other excellent and amazing films of their moment to be acknowledged in what was a STRONG year for docs.

And it robbed Summer of Soul and our team of our moment. Of a loud, enthusiastic cheer for a celebrated film.

I feel bad for Ahmir. I feel bad for my fellow producers. I feel bad for our whole team. I feel bad for all the people watching and rooting for us. We were in shock walking to the stage -not because of winning but because we, too, were still trying to make sense of what happened.

Then Will hugs Ahmir and daps me up. I didn’t even know it was happening in the moment. Still in shock.

(Ahmir handled the moment with grace, giving a speech from the heart. It was beautiful to see. I’m so deeply moved by how much he has grown in the last few years.)

What I didn’t hear in that moment walking to stage but was told of afterwards is what Chris Rock said when reading our name from the winner’s card - The winner is “Summer of Soul…Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and…4 white guys.” WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK?????

The reason that makes me SO SO VERY ANGRY is because I was so proud to be one of a handful of South Asians to have ever won an Oscar in the history of the award.

I was ecstatic that I was the 3RD South Asian to win that night - after Riz and Aneil Karia won earlier in the night for The Long Goodbye. 3 South Asians winning on the same night - that’s never happened before! And it’s meaningful! It’s history!

So with my family and friends watching, Chris Rock lumped me in as 1 of “4 white guys.” (Nevermind the disrespect to @D2Films and @FyVo for not even saying their names, and the inaccuracy of us being 3 producers not 4).

I’m a big boy - I can take a joke. Comedians make jokes. But not in that moment. What a shitty, disrespectful thing to do. AND HERE’S THE THING…It wasn’t that Chris Rock was under stress. He made the same joke the night before on stage at the Roots Jam!

So I’m angry. Angry at Will Smith. Angry at Chris Rock. Angry for me. Angry for Ahmir. Angry for my fellow filmmakers.

I got back home to New York last night and saw the ceremony on my DVR and didn’t have the stomach to watch it. I probably never will. Thank you, Chris - You absolute fucking dick.

Now, all that said, I know that what happened with the ceremony and the achievement of winning an Oscar will separate over time. And truly, like I said earlier, I’m living in a place of absolute joy over what we did.

I never need a statue to tell me how nice I am - but it sure helps. And what both Will AND Chris did really stained what should have been a beautiful moment for us. FIN.

Since I didn't watch, having given up on awards shows long ago and now just looking up great bits, speeches, etc. after the fact, I had not yet seen the "In Memoriam" segment so many hated.  I don't hate it - although I'd prefer a combination of the inclusive segment produced by TCM Remembers as received by a live audience like the BAFTA crowd who shut the hell up rather than unevenly doling about applause - but having now seen it, this about the adoptable dog in the Betty White segment

59 minutes ago, Vermicious Knid said:

In non-Will Smith Oscars news; John Travolta and his son adopted the puppy Jamie Lee Curtis brought on stage for the Betty Smith tribute.

bugs me.  White loved animals, period, and had pets of several species.  I understand choosing a dog as the example to bring out on stage, since most cats would nope right out, but I don't understand having Curtis say the greatest gift one could give White's memory is to open their home to "a rescue dog like" the one she's holding.  Emphasis mine, because it should have been "a rescue pet".  So simple, and such a stupid writing mistake that should never have passed through the several stages to make air.

Edited March 31, 2022 by Bastet

[MsTree]

17 hours ago, SusanM said:

Being able to talk about something personal to you, even joke about it yourself doesn't have to mean it's ok for someone else to do it to you. I mean just as one example I might be perfectly comfortable joking about being too short or too tall but that doesn't give someone else carte blanche to get up on stage and start mocking my height.  

There's no censorship in comedy. Or at least there shouldn't be. And if they're putting their shit out there repeatedly (interviews, red table talk, etc.), they should be able to survive the jokes. 

[Hiyo]

Quote

I'm trying to figure out why non-nominated Bradley Cooper got to sit in the front. 

He was nominated.

Quote

Why would a man slap another man?  Why wouldn't he punch him? 

It's more emasculating to slap a man than punch him.

Quote

I know Will is bigger and stronger than Chris Rock, but it's not like he's The Rock.

Does anyone think Will would have gone up on stage the way he did had it been The Rock instead of Chris Rock? Probably not. You know Will wouldn't pull that shit.

[susannah]

I just saw the Brody/Berry kiss, and there is no way that was assault. She had her arms around his neck, kissing him back, and smiling at the end.  The Carrey/Silverstone one was different, and I am surprised there was no security onstage, since she had trouble pushing him off.

[Hiyo]

Quote

There's no censorship in comedy. Or at least there shouldn't be.

Yeah, no.

[Rebecca berkowit]

7 hours ago, AgathaC said:

This has, apparently, been a big topic of discussion in my stepson’s fifth grade class. To my frustration, all Stepson can talk about is how Chris Rock shouldn’t have said what he did and Will Smith wasn’t all that wrong in what he did. No amount of discussion has shaken him. Hubby is frustrated. So, now I’m not just disgusted, I’m disturbed at either what “lesson” SS has learned or what this is revealing about how his brain works.

My kid, also in fifth grade, said a similar thing.  Maybe it’s the age?  They’re being taught that words are the same as violence?  To stand up when someone insults you?  Or they just love Will  Smith and don’t know who Chris Rock is?   I have no idea, but it is disturbing.  You can only say “we don’t hit” so many times.  

[Simon Boccanegra]

1 hour ago, susannah said:

I just saw the Brody/Berry kiss, and there is no way that was assault. She had her arms around his neck, kissing him back, and smiling at the end. 

Berry has said since then that she wasn't really comfortable, but she just "went with it."

I was watching that ceremony with about eight other people. I remember we were getting news updates about the war during the breaks. I was very happy when Brody's name was called, because he'd been outstanding in The Pianist, and he was the new guy. The other four nominees were respected veterans. Each already had an Oscar; two had more than one. Plus, Brody had my sympathy because The Thin Red Line had been touted a few years earlier as his potential star-making opportunity, before Terrence Malick all but edited him out of the movie.

Brody was far from the odds-on favorite, even though he'd been picking up momentum toward the end. That win (like Hilary Swank's for Boys Don't Cry) was one that probably would not have happened in a shorter awards season. In fact, the following year was the first Oscar ceremony to be moved back to February rather than the traditional early spring. But in 2003, more and more people gave a late look to The Pianist. 

Neither I nor anyone watching with me commented that Brody's kiss was assault or even anything too inappropriate, but we didn't know anything about their relationship -- for all we knew, they were close friends. We also kind of took our cues from Berry, who played it like a pro, looking at the audience afterward like "Wow, what a kiss!" 

I then read some commentary in the days following, and I noted that while some saw it as "exuberance" and "getting carried away in the moment," others thought it crossed a line. So it was mildly controversial even in 2003. When Brody presented Best Actress the following year and made a show of getting breath spray out before opening the envelope, a lot of people were unamused. 

I don't think either Carrey or Brody would do that if he won an award today. There has been a lot of talking and a lot of listening about harassment and boundaries and such. And that's why those conversations are good. More people today see kissing the presenter as overstepping.

I would have said in 2003, 1997, or any prior point that hitting the presenter in the face was wrong, and I’d have expected that to be a universally held opinion. But acquaintances on social media as well as celebrities like Tiffany Haddish suggest otherwise. And there's no going back to long-ago Oscars and finding examples of anyone hitting the presenter in the face, because there haven't been any.

Finally, I don't think anyone has to have led a blameless life to have an opinion or voice an opinion on something they see in the present day (although I can do without OJ's remarks on any issue). 

Edited March 31, 2022 by Simon Boccanegra

[Rebecca berkowit]

6 hours ago, Anela said:

It was posted to twitter. He planted a massive kiss on her, when he won. Like Adrien Brody. 

It’s terrible that Jim Carrey did this.  But it’s possible he can have done this and also be upset at what Will Smith did, which was also wrong.   What Will Smith did was wrong, it doesn’t really matter the moral impeccability (or not) of those who says so.   If you did something wrong once, are you never allowed to condemn others?  In the case of OJ, I suppose so.  But it’s an interesting question.  

[Macbeth1966]

10 hours ago, yowsah1 said:

The "pile on of hate" is because of the complete lack of consequences to Will Smith for what he did.  That's what people are angry about.

Exactly.  Any regular Joe would have been arrested.   There's no arguing about that.  It was caught on camera.  Millions saw this.  

Instead he won his award - and he got a standing ovation.  It was like WTF.

The rules are different when your rich and powerful.

[cambridgeguy]

10 hours ago, SusanM said:

That's exactly it.  Some of the coverage I'm seeing is so over the top that he's starting to look sympathetic.  Somehow I don't think that's what they want.

It's probably what he Will and his family wants though.  I don't think he's sorry about what he did: it certainly didn't stop him from partying away afterwards and I'll bet any sum of money that "his" apology was written by a publicist after he and his team realized they had to do it.  If there's a pile on then great, he gets to play the victim - people are rightfully pissed about his actions but many are wiling to sympathize with his motivation. 

[JudyObscure]

10 hours ago, ChitChat said:

After reading a story about Chris and how he had to deal with bullying as a kid and his violent reaction to it, it really made me think about how this moment was probably very triggering for him. 

You're right.  My son, who was bullied for being small, just like Chris was, watched the incident and  his immediate  concern was for Chris.  He said most people have no idea how hard it is not to cry when you're suddenly, publically humiliated like that.  I watched it again and saw Chris's chin tremble a couple of times even while he was managing to keep it together and make jokes. I'm glad he's getting positive feed back about this, but the moment will probably stay with him forever.

[Shannon L.]

7 hours ago, Bastet said:

Thank you for posting that.  Of the many shames resulting from the decisions of Rock and Smith, I haven't seen much of anything considering this perspective:

Since I didn't watch, having given up on awards shows long ago and now just looking up great bits, speeches, etc. after the fact, I had not yet seen the "In Memoriam" segment so many hated.  I don't hate it - although I'd prefer a combination of the inclusive segment produced by TCM Remembers as received by a live audience like the BAFTA crowd who shut the hell up rather than unevenly doling about applause - but having now seen it, this about the adoptable dog in the Betty White segment

bugs me.  White loved animals, period, and had pets of several species.  I understand choosing a dog as the example to bring out on stage, since most cats would nope right out, but I don't understand having Curtis say the greatest gift one could give White's memory is to open their home to "a rescue dog like" the one she's holding.  Emphasis mine, because it should have been "a rescue pet".  So simple, and such a stupid writing mistake that should never have passed through the several stages to make air.

As someone who has always had a cat, that bugged me, too.  I even said out loud "What about cats and other domesticated animals? She loved them all."  It should have been something like "Consider adopting a pet that suits your lifestyle-animal rescues and your local Humane Societies are overflowing with different kinds of domesticated animals right now."

Edited March 31, 2022 by Shannon L.

[qtpye]

1 hour ago, JudyObscure said:

You're right.  My son, who was bullied for being small, just like Chris was, watched the incident and  his immediate  concern was for Chris.  He said most people have no idea how hard it is not to cry when you're suddenly, publically humiliated like that.  I watched it again and saw Chris's chin tremble a couple of times even while he was managing to keep it together and make jokes. I'm glad he's getting positive feed back about this, but the moment will probably stay with him forever.

Will Smith’s son, Jaden, is also small (like his mother). 
How would Will he like it if someone smacked Jaden hard for saying something stupid…and believe me, that boy says plenty of stupid things.

Edited March 31, 2022 by qtpye

[Lady Whistleup]

I teach high schoolers and it's so depressing that so many girls say how "romantic" Will Smith is. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

Somebody had to be DIS-Invited as a presenter to make room for Rachel Zegler being one, right?  There's no way Jacob Elordi was presenting alone.  That's gotta suck for that person.

[Hiyo]

Quote

it's so depressing that so many girls say how "romantic" Will Smith is. 

It's even more depressing to see adult women saying that.

[Ms Blue Jay]

10 hours ago, AgathaC said:

This has, apparently, been a big topic of discussion in my stepson’s fifth grade class. To my frustration, all Stepson can talk about is how Chris Rock shouldn’t have said what he did and Will Smith wasn’t all that wrong in what he did. No amount of discussion has shaken him. Hubby is frustrated. So, now I’m not just disgusted, I’m disturbed at either what “lesson” SS has learned or what this is revealing about how his brain works.

I don't think anyone should be in a major panic.  I clearly remember my grade school classes misunderstanding some big issues in the news at the time.  Once you get older and get some more education all those things suddenly become clear.

4 hours ago, susannah said:

I just saw the Brody/Berry kiss, and there is no way that was assault. She had her arms around his neck, kissing him back, and smiling at the end.  The Carrey/Silverstone one was different, and I am surprised there was no security onstage, since she had trouble pushing him off.

They were certainly both assault.  What was she supposed to do?  Slap him?  Will Smith style?  She had no choice but to accept his actions.  It was a disgusting display.

Another horrible one you can see on YouTube:  Chris Isaak doing the same to Cameron Diaz.  It's a tradition of men thinking they are owed the bodies of beautiful women.   Would Adrien do that to Judi Dench?  Kathy Bates?  Or did he simply do it because he's owed Halle Berry's young beauty?  It makes me sick.

Edited March 31, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

9 hours ago, ProudMary said:

Extended Twitter thread (19 tweets) from Joseph Monish Patel, one of the three Oscar winning producers of Summer of Soul, who talks about the events that occurred Sunday night. He's angry at both Will Smith and Chris Rock for different reasons in spoiling their win. 

For those who might not be able to read the entire thread in the original Twitter format, here's a link to the unrolled thread:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1509323149820805125.html

I'm glad he posted that.  Now I certainly see what Chris said in a different light and I don't excuse him as much, knowing he's made the same joke before.

[Ms Blue Jay]

3 hours ago, Rebecca berkowit said:

It’s terrible that Jim Carrey did this.  But it’s possible he can have done this and also be upset at what Will Smith did, which was also wrong.   What Will Smith did was wrong, it doesn’t really matter the moral impeccability (or not) of those who says so.   If you did something wrong once, are you never allowed to condemn others?  In the case of OJ, I suppose so.  But it’s an interesting question.  

Jim Carrey absolutely thinks everyone forgot that he assaults people on stage when he wins awards too.  He 100% thinks everyone forgot.  If he was really making a point he could admit his own wrongdoings and then talk about what Will Smith did is wrong.  Instead, I feel like a lot of celebrities are pointing fingers especially at someone they think is an easy target, thinking nobody will point fingers back.  Jim Carrey and other celebrities are not our moral guides.  We can decide for ourselves without their help.  They are not there to tell us how to feel about Will Smith.

I can appreciate the point of view of people who were actually there, like Joseph Monish Patel who won an award, or the people working, like Wanda Sykes, or even former hosts, etc.  But Jim Carrey and all these other celebrities who want to throw their two cents in without doing any looking inward really annoys the hell out of me.  It feels very opportunistic and a desperate way to drum up publicity, which is not exactly respectful to Rock either.

Edited March 31, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Hiyo]

Pedro Almodóvar’s Oscar Diary: Zendaya Fandom, Backstage with Pacino, and ‘the Violent Episode’.

Quote

Inside the green room, I can drink a glass of water and take my analgesic so that the rest of the night isn’t a hell. I greet Robert De Niro, for whom time doesn’t pass. We both remember that in 1992, at the Cannes Film Festival, we were both awarded the sash of the Legion of Honor, the highest-ranking decoration in France. Javier has seen Al Pacino farther off and exclaims: “I’ve seen God.” When I go up to that group, it’s a mass of talent. Javier doesn’t stop hugging him and Pacino smiles, delighted. I say: “You, Al Pacino. Me, Al Modovar.” Javier roars with laughter. I think it’s the worst joke I’ve made in my life.

 

Quote

All those who are important in the industry have protested to the Academy about these untelevised awards, but it is an insistence by ABC, which is obsessed with increasing the ceremony’s viewing figures that had dropped considerably the year before. It’s tough, but that’s how it is. The Oscars gala, like any award ceremony, is really a television program whose subject is the presentation of the most important awards in show business. They have to satisfy their spectators, who get bored to death when they don’t see a famous face (if possible on the verge of a nervous breakdown) and instead see unknown, emotional people who at that moment of their wins remember all their relatives with a drama as if they’ve been victims of a tsunami.

 

Quote

The devil, in fact, doesn’t exist. This was a fundamentalist speech that we should neither hear nor see. Some claim that it was the only real moment in the ceremony, but they are talking about the faceless monster that is the social media. For them, avid for carrion, it undoubtedly was the great event of the night.

 

[Irlandesa]

3 hours ago, Rebecca berkowit said:

 But it’s possible he can have done this and also be upset at what Will Smith did, which was also wrong.  

Sure.  But then he also tsk tsked Hollywood as if he were so above it all when he relied on that same permissiveness to not face repercussions over kissing someone who didn't want to be kissed.

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Somebody had to be DIS-Invited as a presenter to make room for Rachel Zegler being one, right?  There's no way Jacob Elordi was presenting alone.  That's gotta suck for that person.

I wouldn’t assume that. It’s a lot easier to just move people around than revoke an invite. Two people presenting together wasn’t consistent so there is a lot of room for someone to have been moved. Or she took a spot that hadn’t been finalized yet or someone who had to drop out for some reason. Elordi and a few others were announced as presenters at the same time as Zegler. It would be extremely unlikely on a show this big that the presenters list wouldn’t be somewhat it flux leading up to the event. 

Edited March 31, 2022 by Guest