Why I’m disappointed with the Oscars

BY ONEIKA RAYMOND

A quick rant about why the Oscars have really disappointed me this year.

I type this as I sit in Orlando, Florida’s airport on a layover.  I left Costa Rica this morning and am on my way to New York.

Film’s most hallowed event, The Academy Awards, happened this past Sunday.  While I didn’t watch the show ( I was too busy lounging by my hotel’s pool in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica), I have been following the goings on on social media and had the chance to watch a few clips of the broadcast online.

This isn’t exactly travel-related per se but it links to tolerance, diversity, and cultural appreciation (all tenets of travel). Can we talk about all the foolishness that popped off at the Oscars?!? It’s appalling and makes me feel distressed. The offenses, in no particular order:

1. The lack of diversity of nominees, particularly in acting categories. The Oscars were said to be the whitest in recent history and even spawned the viral Twitter hashtag #oscarssowhite.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-oscars-diversity-20150224-story.html#page=1

2. Oscar winner Patricia Arquette’s off-base comments about wage equality in the U.S. While I obviously agree that it’s high time women are paid the same as men, her comments about how white women fought for gay people and people of colour (and how it’s now time for said people to “return the favour”) left a very bad taste in my mouth. Huh? Aren’t a sizeable number of gay people and people of colour also women? Her remarks make it seem as though she’s only referring to white heterosexual women. And, sorry to be controversial, but when have white women ever really championed the plight of gay people and people of colour?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2015/02/24/patricia-arquette-chided-on-backstage-oscar-remarks/23937935/

3. Sean Penn’s out-of-pocket exclamation of “Who gave this son of a bitch a green card?” when Mexican director Alejandro Innaritu won the Best Picture Oscar for “Birdman”. Curiously, no immigration jokes were made about Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch, Nicole Kidman, or any other of the white foreigners at the ceremony. Prejudiced much?

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/23/opinion/reyes-penn-oscar-remarks/index.html

Academy Award Winner
Source : Flickr

4. Giuliana Rancic’s racist remarks about actress and attendee Zendaya Coleman’s dreadlocked hairstyle. Rancic said Zendaya’s hairdo made her look as though she smelled like weed. What?!?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/24/zendaya-giuliana-rancic-racist-hair-comments-oscars_n_6743004.html

5. Host Neil Patrick Harris’ mispronunciation of names like Chiwetel Ejiofor, Margot Robbie, and David Oyelowo. Living in a global village like we do, we are bound to encounter names that are foreign or unfamiliar to us. But when you are put on a world stage like the Oscars, and tasked with introducing and interacting with people from diverse backgrounds, a little research (at least to figure out how to pronounce their names!) goes a loooooong way. It’s disrespectful, otherwise. Come on, NPH! You can do better.

http://www.etonline.com/awards/oscars/160134_chiwetel_ejiofor_david_oyelowo_neil_patrick_harris_mispronounced_at_the_oscars/

6. Fox News reporter Kristi Capel’s use of the racial slur “jiggaboo” to describe Lady Gaga’s music. (Context: Capel praised Gaga’s “Sound of Music” tribute at the Oscars and said she was surprised at how well Gaga sings given she usually makes distracting “jiggaboo” music).

http://www.bustle.com/articles/66072-dear-fox-calling-lady-gaga-jigaboo-music-is-both-nonsensical-and-wildly-offensive

All of the above incidents highlight a dismaying level of obliviousness and complete lack of cultural sensitivity — primarily from people operating from a position of privilege. These incidents are perfect examples of what happens when people are part of a protected and powerful majority, constitute the mainstream, and are blissfully unaware of or unable to consider the feelings, struggles, and/or points of view of a minority group.

And sadly, I feel like the only people really having this discussion are the minority groups that are (constantly) affected. Sigh. Stuff like this makes me so tired, so so tired.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Would love to hear what you think.

Source for lead image: Flickr

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