I know it's not really about posters, but I haven't read anything here
about the Oscars, so I wondered if any others share my puzzlement over
exactly what the criteria for 'best film' is? Apart from the big one *12
Years A Slave * won 2 other Oscars, while *Gravity *won 7 awards, including
best director. Surely that must be a win on points for *Gravity*? Ellen
joked that either *12 Years *would win or else the Academy was racist, and
I suspect that the Afro-American dimension did, in fact, contribute to the
end decision. Racism does not necessarily have to express itself as hatred,
but it is not particularly edifying to see it expressed in a patronising
way either. I was saddened to see the great actor Sidney Poitier trundled
out to receive what was, given the occasion, something like a pat on the
head for his career and being the first black actor to win an Oscar for
Best Actor, and am I being in overly critical in the Academy then having
Will Smith present the Best Film award? There is no doubt that Hollywood,
like the rest of the USA, can have its conscience tugged when it comes to
the treatment of the Afro-American community. *Birth of a Nation *is hardly
an advert for multi-cultural harmony, and movies like the Marx Brothers *A
Day At The Races *have scenes which sit uncomfortably with present day
attitudes. Maybe the Academy felt some atonement was due for the failure of
*The Color Purple *to win any awards? Anyway, as a non-American I may have
a jaundiced view which is not shared by others, but I am interested in
finding out what the views of MOPO subscribers are.
Tommy
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