Afternoon Open Thread: The 2012 Oscars

February 27th, 2012 by Arturo

As far as pleasant surprises, you also had the evening’s pair of South Asian winners: Iran’s Asghar Farhadi (A Separation, Best Foreign Language Film, A Separation) who dedicated his win to his countrymen, and Pakistan’s first winner, documentarian Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, whose victory for Saving Face spurred a celebration of its own online, as MSNBC reported:

Immediately following her win, proud Pakistanis – watching early-morning satellite feeds of the awards ceremony halfway across the world – took to the web to share their glee and congratulate their fellow countryman. For a brief moment, “Saving Face” became one of the top ten trends, worldwide, on Twitter.

“I walk a prouder #Pakistani today coz of you @sharmeenochinoy and your #Oscar win!!” tweeted @samrammuslim.

“Pakistan wins 1st #Oscar r hero @sharmeenochinoy,” tweeted @asmiather.

Networks across Pakistan broadcast breaking news alerts to announce Obaid-Chinoy’s win. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani announced the nation would confer the filmmaker with the highest civilian award upon her return.

Other points of interest:

  • What does it say about the Grammys when Esperanza Spalding, named Best New Artist just a year ago, inspired a bunch of “Who is that?” tweets during her performance last night?
  • Really funny moment you missed if you weren’t watching the pre-show coverage on TNT América Latina one of the hosts referring to Demián Bichir as “the Mexican George Clooney” … right to the American George Clooney’s face. Of course, they both lost Best Actor to the French Nathan Fillion, Jean Dujardin.
  • Chris Rock’s calling out of Hollywood’s casting prejudices was spot-on, but it shouldn’t have come at the expense of throwing professional voice actors under the bus.
  • Here’s to hoping that, while American audiences were introduced to Aurora Guerrero’s Mosquita y Mari thru a commercial, they do the work of getting to know it better by actually going out to see it.
  • Here’s to also hoping that, if the Oscar itself can be modeled after a POC, that that Times study points out the glaring need for more of them to vote on who should have a shot at taking one home.

What was your take on the evening, everyone?

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Posted in diversity, movies, race & representations | 18 comments

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  • Eva

    I’v 52 years old and for me the Oscars really don’t mean a darn thing.  Oscars were given to people like Roberto Benigni, F. Murray Abraham  and Adrien Brody, what have they done lately?  To me, the Oscars mostly go to the flavor of the month or the week.  Hollywood is running out of ideas and with web based shows that are cheaper to produce, I really wonder if the Oscars will mean anything in ten years.  

  • http://commentarybyvalentina.wordpress.com/ Val

     And don’t forget that the doc “Undefeated” won as well. It’s the story of a White football coach who swoops in to help a bunch of inner city Black kids.  Basically another version of the Blind Side.

  • Elton

    What the fuck is wrong with Hollywood?  Why are they so brain-dead when it comes to issues of race and representation?  You might say that the rest of America is just as bad, but I think there is something especially wrong with Hollywood if they haven’t yet heard there might be something problematic about blackface.  I seriously don’t think that would fly anywhere else without at least a comment or two.  A black actress winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for playing a maid?  What year is it, 1939?
    And as a 20-something, who the hell is Billy Crystal?

    I don’t understand how the Oscars can be relevant if normal Americans can’t vote on them.

  • Purpleduck84

    It annoys me how people excuse the blackface by saying that Crystal was doing an impression of Sammy Davis Jr. The fact that he was doing a specific impression of someone doesn’t make it not blackface, ffs.

  • Kat

    “Barber of Birmingham”, please!

  • http://twitter.com/BWofBrazil BlackWomenofBrazil

    I am not giving Billy Crystal a pass but at the same time, I can say that he is legitimately trying to look like Sammy Davis, Jr. It’s a little different from the days of Al Jolson when his portrayals and that of others made black people look like monsters. It is not politically correct that Crystal did it again, but I didn’t see it as the humiliation of the old vaudeville shows. Also, realize, the hideous images of blackface are global: 
    http://www.blackwomenofbrazil.com/2012/02/nega-maluca-and-popularization-of.html

  • http://twitter.com/BWofBrazil BlackWomenofBrazil

    I am not giving Billy Crystal a pass but at the same time, I can say that he is legitimately trying to look like Sammy Davis, Jr. It’s a little different from the days of Al Jolson when his portrayals and that of others made black people look like monsters. It is not politically correct that Crystal did it again, but I didn’t see it as the humiliation of the old vaudeville shows. Also, realize, the hideous images of blackface are global: 
    http://www.blackwomenofbrazil.com/2012/02/nega-maluca-and-popularization-of.html

  • Kat

    I disagree on the “Normal Americans” part. I wand the the Oscars voters to be a gender and race reflection of the population at large, but I absolutely would want it to be something that is voted for by film specialists and industry insiders, not the guy who just catcalled me who wore a Simpson’s shirt. Mass appeal in movies is almost the antithesis of great films (see also “Terminator” and “Transformers” and all “White Savior” films).

  • Kat

    I disagree on the “Normal Americans” part. I wand the the Oscars voters to be a gender and race reflection of the population at large, but I absolutely would want it to be something that is voted for by film specialists and industry insiders, not the guy who just catcalled me who wore a Simpson’s shirt. Mass appeal in movies is almost the antithesis of great films (see also “Terminator” and “Transformers” and all “White Savior” films).

  • Anonymous

    The host of the Oscars in blackface? In 2012?  Really?    

  • Anonymous

    The host of the Oscars in blackface? In 2012?  Really?    

  • miga

    Reading the Jezebel comments re: Billy Crystal and Blackface make me want to bang my head against a wall…  

  • Winn

    Right?  Reading the whitesplaining about how “it’s not reaaallly blackface, because blackface was only Al Jolson and stuff…this was ‘theatrical makeup’ and an impersonation of an ACTUAL PERSON”…I want to bang someone else’s head against the wall, and then smack them upside the head I just knocked into the wall.  I wasn’t aware black people needed schooling on what is ‘real, historical blackface”, but as usual, we’re confused until a white person explains to us why we’re wrong.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=697711208 Lola Jusidman

    hollywood loves white blue-eyed people. the hollywood “classics” montage was overwhelmingly pale, white, blue-eyed. Most of the movies that people loved the most in these oscars were about nostalgia for the “good old times” (tintin, midnight in paris, hugo, the artist, the help, the iron lady, the tree of life, war horse, marylin, albert nobbs, blah blah blah) when white was the aesthetic ideal in every way and white women were fetishized, and people of color were out of the picture (most of the time). why is there so much nostalgia for the prim and proper time of the early upper-class sixties and earlier, and so little for more accepting, multi-colored eras like the late sixties, seventies, and eighties? 

    also something i noticed in all of the oscar and superbowl ads is that it’s always black people in some sort of dillema, and a white person shows up to help them and explain whatever product they’re selling and how it makes life easier. has anyone else noticed that yet? 

  • Anonymous

    You aren’t kidding, but do you expect anything LESS from Jezebel?  They apparently think that if you are aping black people b/c you “admire”, it’s okay.  If the topic of race, esp. black people and black women comes up, you’d best click away or you will spend the day pulling out your hair.

    They bring the art of whitesplaining to a whole new level.  

  • sean

    I think in fairness to Chris Rock, it seemed he was referring to *actors* doing animated features, and not actual voiceover artists. He could have worded it more clearly, though.

  • verah

    I mercifully missed the blackface. The parts of the ceremony I saw were as awkward and terrible as they usually are; the best thing that came out of it was that I became determined to see that Iranian film that won Best Foreign Film. 

    I found many of the wins absolutely unbelievable – not that Oscars have ever been a great authority on what is quality but this year it stood out to me more than ever. It got tiring telling the TV “really? seriously?” so eventually I just switched it off.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=697711208 Lola Jusidman

    chris rock was entertaining, i love him. he would make a better host than crystal or james franco