SO FAR THIS YEAR…
By Isaiah Z. Sterrett (03/10/06)
My column has been inconspicuously absent for the past several weeks, so I think I have some catching-up to do. True, events of worldwide importance have been somewhat sparse of late, but commentate I must, nonetheless.
The Olympics came and went without any major problem—unless you happen to Bode Miller, who now works as a ski-lift operator somewhere in Colorado. In figure skating, Russians swept nearly every event, but Shizuka Arakawa’s breathtaking, Gold-winning performance kept such an honor out of their reach. The new scoring system, endlessly discussed on NBC, combined with a rushed skate by Irina Slutskaya and a nervous skate by our own Sasha Cohen—not to mention the tremendous talent of Arakawa—led to a glorious victory—a sole victory—for Japan.
Torino’s Games complete, Americans (at least several of us) turned to the Oscars, where host Jon Stewart was funny, but not too much so, and in which “Brokeback Mountain,” unquestionably 2005’s most groundbreaking film, lost Best Picture to “Crash,” a fine movie but one hardly deserving of the praise it has received. The Oscars, like the Olympics, went very smoothly. The best thing about this year’s ceremony was that it gave us (so soon!) what will no doubt go down as one of the most absurd, delusional speeches in Hollywood history. I quote, in part, here:
And finally, I would say that, you know, we are a little bit out of touch in Hollywood every once in a while, I think. It’s probably a good thing. Uhm, we’re the ones who talk about AIDS when it was just being whispered. And we talked about civil rights when it wasn’t really popular. And we, uh, you know, we bring up subjects…we are the ones…this Academy, this group of people gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I’m proud to be a part of this Academy. I’m proud to be part of this community. I’m proud to be out of touch. And I thank you so much for this.
Those immortal words were spoken by one George Clooney, who is now, of course, confirmably ignorant of American history. To begin with, AIDS was never “just being whispered.” AIDS was the talk of the world—and still is. Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington made a terrific movie about discrimination against AIDS patients entitled “Philadelphia,” but the movie was a result of a national diaglouge; it was not the start of a national dialouge. Hollywood hasn’t made a dent in the way we discuss AIDS.
As for civil rights, I think Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and the myriad other heroes and heroines who fought for racial equality would be interested to know that their fight was actually taking place in smoggy L.A. In fact, I believe they were focused primarily on Birmingham, Selma, and Atlanta; I can’t really recall any march on Sunset Boulevard.
Maddening as Clooney’s words are, forgetting George isn’t hard to do, once one remembers the beautiful and heartrending Best Song, “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp.” Though I think we can all relate to the sensitive and nuanced lyrics of this particular selection, one has to believe that Dolly Parton—whose “Transamerica” song, “Travelin’ Thru,” does not utilize the word “pimp”—was somewhat disenfranchised. Would that her songs were as life-affirming as those of Three 6 Mafia! (Question: Do pimps ever work 9-5?)
Beyond the Olympic Games and the Academy Awards, recent news has been bleak. Currently America—or, more accurately, about fifteen people—are wetting their trousers over the thought of Dubai having business control over American ports. The problem seems to have been solved, at least for the time being, but clearly the problem should have never existed. Democrats and Republicans joining hands to oppose the United Arab Emirates in a business deal is preposterous. I mean, we’re talking about a business transaction between business partners here; it’s not as if we’re letting George Clooney run the ports. Now that would be something to kvetch about!
And now that I think about it, why is Congress worried about the ports? There are pimps out there, cold and lonely, and here we are, worried about port security! Talk about mispalced priorities.
© Copyright 2006 by Isaiah Z. Sterrett
(Printer friendly version) Email: Isaiah Z. Sterrett
