|
 Comedian Chris
Rock, the host of the 77th Annual Academy Awards, shocked Academy members before the broadcast of
the awards show by publicly declaring, "I never watched the
Oscars," and dismissed the entire ceremony as idiotic.
Reputedly some Academy members privately called for Chris Rock
(star of the HBO comedy special, CHRIS ROCK: BIGGER & BLACKER) to
be removed as this year's host fearing the incendiary comedian had
tarnished the reputation of the Oscars® when, during a pre-Oscar®
interview in early February of 2005, Rock said, "Awards for art
are (expletive deleted)
idiotic," and then added, "Come on, it's a fashion show!”
 Chris
Rock (pictured right) may have had a point, considering that
nearly all the media coverage before and after the award show
focused on almost nothing but who wore what designed by whom.
After all, isn’t the event supposed to be about Awards for Merit
in the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences?
Nevertheless, in spite of all the silliness and
overblown pomp and circumstances, Oscar®
merits legitimate praise – not only for ostensibly
recognizing outstanding cinematic achievement – but also as a tool
that has helped to shatter racial barriers and promote universal
brotherhood.
Chris Rock’s rage is understandable, considering that there was
once a time (and not too long ago) when the Oscar® show was as
white as rice – and whenever on that rare occasion that an
African-American performer received an Oscar® nod, everyone
assumed that it was just a token nomination – and took it as
axiomatic that the black nominee had no chance in hell of actually
winning.
This, however, was not the fault of the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts & Sciences (AMPAS), the organization that oversees the
Oscars® and presents the awards. Rather it was symptomatic of a
disgraceful time when America was torn by accepted racist values
and segregation. And that is not to say that things are perfect
now. But the times they are a changing …
To their credit, AMPAS has historically worked to change things
for the better.
In 1939, actress Hattie McDaniel (pictured left), who played Mammy in the screen
classic GONE WITH THE WIND, was denied admittance to the “whites
only” premier of the film at a theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. Yet
the following year, AMPAS presented the Oscar® for Best
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role to McDaniel for her
work on that film. McDaniel was not only the first
African-American to win an Oscar®, she was also the first
African-American to attend the Academy Awards as a guest and not a
servant.
In the years that followed, nominations and honorary Oscar®
recognition for black artists were few and far between. And it
was a long time coming before Sidney Poitier became the next black
actor to win a competitive Oscar® for Best Actor of the Year in
1963 for
his performance in LILIES OF THE FIELD (pictured right). But Hollywood
studios are not to blame for this cultural lacuna. You must
remember that movies are an expensive art form and a risky
commercial venture. If Hollywood once displayed an unwillingness
to provide meaty roles for black actors, it is only because the
studio heads were worried about the green. Movie executives were
fearful that black artists would not draw box office returns from
white Americans.
But AMPAS, through their continued recognition of the
contributions of talented black artists (and other artists of
color and ethnic and cultural diversity), has consistently worked
to open the minds of mainstream American filmgoers and open doors
for film artists, who are people of color. And for that Oscar®
deserves his own award.
Three years ago, in 2002, the Oscars® made front page headlines
when for the first time in the history of the Academy Awards, the
two top acting awards for Best Actor and Best Actress (pictured
left) both went to
artists of African-American descent. Denzel Washington won for
his riveting performance of a good cop gone bad in TRAINING DAY;
and Halle Berry won for her heart-rending and unforgettable role
as a woman who loses her son in a hit and run accident and her
husband to capital punishment in MONSTERS’ BALL. In their
Oscar® acceptance speeches, both artists, acknowledged the
cultural significance of the evening. In particular, Halle Berry
delivered a tearful tribute to the late Dorothy Dandridge, a woman
Berry once portrayed in a TV biopic for HBO. It should be noted
that Dandridge, the first black actress to receive an Oscar®
nomination for Best Actress for her performance in CARMEN JONES
(1954) had to fight against racism and prejudice every step of the
way along the rocky road of her career – and this unending
struggle ultimately drove Dandridge into an early grave.
 This year, black performers also won two of the top awards. Jamie
Foxx was named Best Actor of the Year for his portrayal of the
legendary musician Ray Charles in the biopic RAY; and Morgan
Freeman (pictured right) was honored as Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his
performance as the half-blind ex-boxer, Scrap, in MILLION DOLLAR
BABY. In addition, more black artists were nominated for Oscars®
in 2005 than in any previous year. In the four Oscar® categories
for acting, five of the nominations were for black
actors.
Furthermore in the category for Best Documentary feature, TUPAC:
RESURRECTION, a portrait of the black rap musician was nominated.
This year, in contrast to the Oscars® of 2002, in the winners’
acceptance speeches, race was hardly mentioned. Freeman simply
thanked Clint Eastwood for giving him a great role. Jamie Foxx
(pictured left) briefly
acknowledged a debt to and influence from Sidney Poitier – and
then delivered a tearful and unforgettable tribute to his loving
grandmother who raised him to be the man he is today.
In addition, this year the Oscars® also made history in
recognizing Spanish language performances. For the first time, a
Columbian Actress, Catalina Sandino Moreno was nominated for Best
Actress of the Year for a Spanish-speaking role in the Columbian
feature about drug-runners, MARIA FULL OF GRACE. And for the
first time, the Oscar® for Best Song went to a song that was sung
in Spanish: “Al Otro Lado Del Rio” from THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES.
It’s amusing to look at the contrast to see how much things have
changed. Less than four decades ago, a nation was shocked when a
white actor, William Shatner (as Captain Kirk) kissed a black
actress
Nichelle Nichols (as Lieutenant Uhura) on a
 primetime TV episode
of STAR TREK (pictured left). Two years ago, on the Academy Awards®
broadcast (pictured right), an overly exuberant Adrien Brody, who won the Oscar®
for Best
Actor for his performance in Roman Polanski’s THE PIANIST, planted
a wet one on the unsuspecting Oscar® presenter Halle Berry – and Halle Berry was the
only one who was shocked.
No one can say that Oscar®
has not helped to foster this greater spirit of brotherhood,
tolerance, and multi-cultural harmony. I’m sure Chris Rock would
agree.
And the Winner
is… all of us.
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