The 89th Academy Awards, aka The Oscars, was broadcast by ABC live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday night, hosted by late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. As with other award shows of late, politics reared its ugly liberal head and showed us exactly why Hollywood is often referred to derisively as "La La Land."
Thank you to singer Justin Timberlake for performing a musical number without any political overtones as the show’s opening. Then late night show host Jimmy Kimmel came on to host the evening and crapped it all up. He spoke of the millions of Americans watching and those in “225 countries that now hate us.” Noting that he wouldn’t be able to fix the division in the country, he referenced actor/director Mel Gibson by saying that there was only one “Braveheart” in the room but he wasn’t going to bring everyone together either. He also said, “I want to say thank you to President Trump. Remember last year when it seemed like the Oscars were racist?” Sigh.
Kimmel did a recurring bit where he went on and on about how “overrated” (as President Trump tweeted) actress Meryl Streep is, and even had the liberal sheeple in the audience give Streep a standing ovation for being nominated for the twentieth time for an Oscar to tweak the president. Then he asked if her dress was “an Ivanka,” referencing the First Daughter’s clothing line. Who writes his lame stuff anyway? He finished the monologue saying, “Some of you will get to come up here on this stage tonight and give a speech that the president of the United States will tweet about in all caps during his 5:00 A.M. Bowel movement tomorrow.” Classy.
After a commercial break, Kimmel came back by asking CNN, The New York Times or any outfit with ”Times” in their name to leave the room – he said, “We have no tolerance for fake news,” in reference to the kerfuffle caused when some news organizations were excluded from a gaggle at the White House last week.
Earlier Sunday, President Trump had tweeted about the ad (commercial) The New York Times bought to run during the Oscars. He tweeted: “For first time the failing @nytimes will take an ad (a bad one) to help save its failing reputation. Try reporting accurately & fairly!”
An Iranian film, The Salesman, won for Best Foreign Language film. The producer, Asghar Farhadi, boycotted the ceremony due to the travel ban and had a statement read by Anousheh Ansari. It seems like if he was really such a warrior for peace and love, he’d work against the killing of gays or mistreatment of women in his own country. Just a thought. The Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Javad Zarif, tweeted out his approval of the boycott: “Proud of cast & crew of "The Salesman" for Oscar & stance against #MuslimBan. Iranians have represented culture & civilization for millennia.” (The Tweet has since been deleted)
Ansari: I will be reading a statement from Mr. Farhadi.
It's a great honor to be receiving this valuable award for the second time. I would like to thank the members of the academy, my crew in Iran, my producer, Amazon and my fellow nominees. I'm sorry I'm not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of other six nations whom have been disrespected by the inhuman law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S. Dividing the world -- thank . Dividing the world into the us and our enemies categories creates fear. A deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression. Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. They create empathy between us and others. An empathy which we need today more than ever. Thank you on behalf of Mr. Farhadi. Thank you.
Really? A man from Iran is lecturing US on dividing the world into us versus our enemies, aggression and war, democracy and human rights? And when was the last time he spoke out about “the inhuman law that bans entry of” Israelis or anyone who has an Israeli stamp in their passport into Iran?
Some other highlights (or lowlights):
“This is for all the immigrants,” said the winner of the make up and hairstyling award, in his heavy accent. It sounded like typical leftist confusion between illegal and legal immigrants.
The winner of Best Documentary Feature falsely equated O.J. Simpson’s murder victims, Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman, with other alleged victims of police violence and racism. The documentary O.J.: Made in America was turned into a vehicle for social justice warriors in Hollywood. Really? I thought it was the story of a violently deranged black retired athlete who killed his white ex-wife whom he had abused for years and her friend, a waiter who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time delivering glasses that were left at a restaurant.
Kimmel introduced the President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as “a president who believes in both arts and sciences.” President Cherly Boone Isaacs went on to say that “art has no borders,” no single language or any single faith, and brings us together “regardless of country of origin.” Ok, then.
Viola Davis won Best Supporting Actress for Fences. She arrogantly said that people in the arts are in the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life. Wow. What about doctors and nurses, religious leaders and followers, to name a few?
The Mexican presenter for Best Animated Film decided to let everyone know he is against a wall with Mexico, in a random and uncalled for remark. “Flesh and blood actors are migrant workers. We travel all over the world, we build families, we construct stories, we build life that cannot be divided. As a Mexican, as a Latin-American, as a migrant worker, as a human being, I'm against any form of wall that wants to separate us.” I think President Trump has American security and sovereignty in mind, not worrying about the feelings of an open borders loving actor earning a nice living in America.
The filmmakers of the winner in the Best Documentary Short Subject, The White Helmets, asked the audience to stand so everyone would see how many people care about ending the war in Syria. It was a meaningless gesture for a feel-good liberal audience who didn't seem to care all that much about the war and refugees when Obama presided over it all.
Two hours into the show, Kimmel noted that the president hadn’t tweeted about it yet. He live tweeted at President Trump, “U up?” and “Meryl says hi.”
And what’s an award ceremony in Hollywood without some sanctimonious fashion choices? A few celebs sported blue ACLU ribbons. Meanwhile Dakota Johnson and Oscar winner Emma Stone both wore Planned Parenthood pins, and a few actresses Tweeted out pictures of themselves in Trayvon Martin hoodies to commemorate the 5th anniversary of his death. Oscar nominated director and screenwriter, Ana DuVernay, decided to make a political statement by choosing a Muslim designer for her dress. Seriously, this is how lame the event was Sunday night.
The Oscars were a snooze fest. The best part was the candy drops from the ceiling throughout the show. No doubt the sugar buzzes were needed to keep the audience awake. Until the very end, of course.
A truly bizarre ending to the show happened when Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway presented the Best Picture Award. Warren Beatty announced the winner as La La Land only to have to admit the true winner was Moonlight after the La La Land people were on stage giving their speeches. Awkward!
There was no discernable difference between - we went from one group of rich liberals saying in their acceptance speeches that they wanted to use love “to create and champion bold and diverse work, work that inspires us towards joy, towards hope and towards empathy” to another group of liberals saying they wanted to inspire “people, little black boys and brown girls and other folks watching at home who feel marginalized.”
La La Land might not have won the Oscar for Best Picture, but it remains the liberal fantasy world lefty celebs live in.
