Locke and Demonthesis are friends brought together in a forum of discussion. Both are strongly opinionated on their subjects, yet strive to be civil and understanding in their shown practice of free speech and debate. They ardently feel this is the corner stone of our society. This week their discussion on the way race was a central concern in the Oscars this year.
Locke: I think the results of this year’s Oscars finally show that race is being put on the back burner of public opinion in favor of honest to goodness equality. For those of you who don’t know, Denzel Washington and Halle Berry took home best actor/actress awards respectively. In addition, Sidney Poitier was honored with a lifetime achievement award. Not to mention, Whoopi Goldberg hosted the Oscars. The African-American community should feel liberated to know that they are not barred from recognition by the American Film academy.
Demonthesis: I think the African American community should be outraged. Looking back on this years Oscars, I think entertainment experts will see it as the year of the “Black Oscars.” I will concede that Goldberg is respected in the acting community and that she is plenty qualified and deserving to host the Oscars. Though, I think this would have been more suitable five years ago in her prime as an actress and comedian. In fact, she has mostly been doing cameos and two-bit parts since then.
L: What about Sidney Poitier? He has played in great roles over many years. He is also nearing the end of his career and deserves this sort of recognition.
D: I will certainly concur with the award being given to Poitier. He is a phenomenal actor with an excellent track record and many years under his belt. Yet, his accomplishments get overshadowed by the laughable victories of Berry and Washington.
L: Laughable? Washington is a phenomenal actor with a great body of work where he has time and again proven himself to be a great actor.
D: Then give him a lifetime achievement award in ten years. This award was for his performance in the mediocre film, Training Day. In this film he played a stereotypical role as a bad-cop. He did a good job in this role. He is deserved of a nomination in that he took a mediocre film and managed to get it to make an impact in the box office. Though, he does not hold a candle to the performance put forth by Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind.
L: There are two major problems with Crowe. First, he’s getting too much too fast. Last year he won best actor for Gladiator, this year he was nominated again. Second, the guy is a jerk. His off-screen actions in recent events show that he lacks moral fiber. We should not reward someone and hold them up as idols, when we can’t respect the things they do.
D: I know the Oscars are often treated as a popularity contest, but the fact of the matter is, they are not. Crowe may have done some questionable things, but those were off-screen. We cannot judge his acting on personal antics. These things need to be separated.
L: I’m still not convinced, but what is your take on Berry?
D: Well, this really comes down to a series of issues. First off, she didn’t even do the best acting in the film she was in. Billy Bob Thornton far outshined her performance in Monster’s Ball and didn’t even receive a nomination. Second, she does not have any significant body of work to enforce this nomination or award. However, I do believe her nomination was deserved. Finally, in the category of Best Actress, Nicole Kidman should have been the obvious choice. Not only did she pull off a stunning performance in Moulin Rouge, she also wowed audiences in “The Others.” With these two movies in mind, she is clearly the Best Actress of 2001
L
: There are a couple issues with the things you’ve just listed. First, you are contradicting yourself in saying that Barre has no respectable body of work, since in Washington’s case you threw that out. Also, Kidman can’t be awarded the Best Actress award based on two good movies, this award is based solely on a single film. That film was Moulin Rouge, and a large portion of the population hated that film.D: Love or hate, Moulin Rouge is an original film with great acting all around. Anyone who can get through the vibrant colors and fast edits will see that inside this film is a tragic love story so powerful and unique that most men will find themselves able to respect the film regardless of its “chick-flick” nature. Also, the people who hate and discredit Moulin Rouge are most likely going to dislike “Monster’s Ball” for the exact opposite reasons. It involves a slow moving story line with very long drawn out edits that often leave you staring at the rear-view mirror of a car for up to a minute. The people unable to get by the uniqueness of Rouge, will also have issues with the style of Ball.
L: Even so, these actors/actresses put forth performances deserving of the awards they received and it is darn well time that the African American actors/actresses are able to get the recognition they deserve.
D: I feel that any time someone receives something as a handout rather than on merit, that victory is hollow and meaningless. I am certain that Barre and Washington will continue to make movies in the future and that their skills will only improve with time. It is sad that they were recognized now in a meaningless show of fake-racial equality rather than when they are truly the key figures in great films. The roles they won for this time will not be remembered as defining moments in their careers, and that is the true tragedy.
L: I truly hope that the Oscars were not swayed by these issues as you have said. It would be disheartening for the equal rights movements to be back in a time where minorities are given handouts as show of equality. I do not believe that is what occurred here, but rather a coincidence of upsets caused by independent events and hard work by the actors involved.
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