The Oscars

[DRW50]

Maybe she meant Gaga's regular music (although a white person still shouldn't be using that word, ever).

I'm not a huge Gaga fan either, but every time I've heard Idina sing live she sounds like fried ass to me. I don't care if she sang those songs before - I wasn't sorry to not have to hear them from her mouth last night.

[Mr. Vixen]

I'm afraid you missed the point. It's not about ZD30, it's about the state of Hollywood.

I'm sorry if I offended you at all, Chit. You know I respect your opinion and even when we disagree, I know you stand up for what's right!

[Vee]

I didn't miss the point, she was simply making a lot of different ones in different posts. I chose which one I took issue with.

To be clear: You're right, Viola Davis should (and likely will, soon enough) get more lead roles. At the moment, though, she is currently ruling TV and turning out incredible perfomances week after week on a show that I feel is beneath her, but ruling it she is nonetheless.

Do I think there should always be more and better, and to keep trying to smash that barrier? Yes. Do I think it's a massive problem with how the industry casting machine works, as you say? Yes. Do I think last night's Oscars trotting out every single black person they could find to try and defray criticism of their disgusting snub of Selma (which was the Best Picture, IMO) was pathetic and shameful? Yes. But in the case of that particular example, with that particular film with that particular actress - ZDT, where Chastain did play a character specifically based at least partially off a certain young phenom who has been clearly identified in the press, and played the role very well - that's not the hill I care to fight on, because I thought she was excellent and the film was excellent. I can like her and her work and also think Viola Davis has been underserved in the past. I can think all of these things at once, so I do. I don't see why it has to be about trashing a previous award winner just to make that damn point.

[All My Shadows]

I'm not familiar enough with Miss Dazeem's singing to make a real judgment, though I guess I associate her enough with Kristin Chenoweth to not really want to rush out and listen to her. For me, SR's error was presuming to know how Julie Andrews felt about Gaga's performance, especially with Julie giving instant approval immediately following.

[Mr. Vixen]

I agree on all counts!

[DRW50]

Patricia Arquette's getting a lot of backlash over her speech (more her press room comments, which came across to many as an entitled, rich white woman asking minorities and LGBTetc to help out white women who rarely give them the time of day), and I don't think it's entirely fair, but some of the defenses of her are not exactly helpful. I read some screed at Time that for no apparent reason other than "feminism" conflated her with Lena Dunham and hijacked the whole thing to talk about how awful it was that some feminists were disgusted by Lena Dunham's book. Arquette deserves better than that mess.

[Vee]

Oh, God, who gives a [!@#$%^&*]? Did she not ask for equal pay for all women? This is laughable and it's why I left the online left behind several years ago. Sooner or later it always ends up eating its own ass trying to pretend one of us is shitting out foie gras. I could give a !@#$%^&*] what a few fringe blogs think about Patricia Arquette, and I don't even like 75% of her performances onscreen.

[DRW50]

It wasn't just fringe blogs - it got to the point where she had to address it on Twitter.

I think it was this that caused some upset:

I can see why it ruffled some feathers, given the tone of the ceremony (and the Oscar season), but I don't think she meant it the way it came across to some people. I can see both sides in this case.

[Mr. Vixen]

Obviously she didn't mean fight for white women, she meant fight for women in general. And she's absolutely correct.

[DRW50]

Oh I agree. It's the later comment that got the response I mentioned (the "fight for us" after fighting for gay people and people of color). I don't really think she meant it that way. I think it just struck a nerve with some viewers because of so many other racist moments during the night/during the last few months of Oscar season.

[Vee]

I can't do it that way myself. I think if I always give both sides credence on the Internet in this day and age, one or both sides eventually ends up taking about a hundred city blocks, and then expects you to beg them for forgiveness. That's how the online fringe has operated for several years now - rage, purge, take your pound of flesh - and that cycle ain't over yet. We're in a period where anyone who speaks out for the right things is always somehow "problematic," and then there must always be a ceaseless spiral of rage and a ritual supplication because someone is not all things to all people. I just have no interest in that dance. What it really comes down to for me is, Patricia Arquette wasn't the feminist they wanted up there (i.e., themselves or someone else they prefer), so they manufactured an assault and used all the right buzzwords. Same procedure, different names and nouns.

[Mr. Vixen]

Agreed!

[DRW50]

I see your point, but I've seen so much criticism of anyone who had a problem with the Oscars this year dismissed as fringe and just wanting attention, I'd feel like a hypocrite if I discounted all of the complaints. Some I do think are bitter and unfair and attention-seeking - others I think had a point. It's just that Twitter always ends up like a broken toilet, with the waste rising to the top.

Anyway, apparently Octavia Spencer had no idea she'd be doing that stupid gag.

https://tv.yahoo.com/news/neil-patrick-harris-octavia-spencer-wasnt-warned-oscars-144431866.html

[Khan]

NPH said he didn't want the "prediction box bit" to seem like a comedy sketch? Well, he failed. He failed hard.

[NothinButAttitude]

Not surprised that Olivia Spencer wasn't part of gag. Her body language depicted it. This show overall was too forced.