Film Awards Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

JMO but it's unlikely that Will will win an Oscar again, at least for acting (perhaps as a producer). I likened his winning for his portrayal of Richard Williams as almost comparable to Jennifer Hudson winning for playing Effie White in Dreamgirls. I'm not sure if people know what I mean by this. Although, tbh, I still think that someone like Sterling K Brown would have been better cast to play Williams but Smith had cultivated such goodwill (no pun intended) that many people felt it was his time. Also, the story of Richard Williams and Venus and Serena Williams is unlike any other story on earth and it was also seen as a sort of celebration of them. The regardless of whether people believed Dominic or Denzel were better (and many people did) this season, knowing the kind of person they believed Will to be, they didn't want to see him lose again. But after this display (I just read an article where Pedro Almodóvar claimed that watching Smith rant in his acceptance speech was like hearing the rants from a cult leader), Will will have to give an undeniably phenomenal performance to ever get an award for acting again. 

Before the Academy awards ceremony, someone suggested that Will do theater (I don't know why more movie actors won't do theater, it would improve their craft), Macbeth jokes aside, I have thought that he and a few other actors should gave been doing theater for years. But for now, I just think Will needs therapy, he's been carrying around some serious baggage and he can't lift it anymore.

[Vee]

Supposedly he is in therapy already and has been for some time.

[DramatistDreamer]

Then it's time to find a new therapist.

Around the time, I had just finished listening to the audiobook of his autobiography, I checked out his YouTube channel and it documented aspects of him co-writing his memoir and he did have some kind of therapist there. I don't know whether she is his regular therapist, but, at times, he was ducking and dodging the process, missing writing deadlines and no one really called him out on his avoidance. Maybe he needs to see someone else.

Chris Rock has been open about seeing a therapist. He said he was diagnosed with some type of learning disability. In an interview last year, he said, in his romantic relationships, women would ask "what's wrong with you?" He said his therapist said he has difficulty reading social cues, like interpreting facial expressions, mood and body language. I just think it is really interesting to see what happened on Sunday evening through the prism of all this.

Now there is confusion over conflicting statements about whether Will Smith was asked to leave and refused. At this point though, the Academy awards people will probably be forced to act in some sort of way. What that looks like, I guess we'll see.

Honestly, they need to stick the whole ceremony on YouTube, put the ads on a crawl on the bottom of the screen. No breaks, except a brief intermission. This ceremony has descended into a boring parade of corporate sponsors with some clips, speeches and skits in between. 

Corporate interests have done to the Academy awards what they've done to the Olympic Games. Dulled them.

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by DramatistDreamer

[Vee]

Yep!

[janea4old]

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Summer of Soul was such a treasure of a documentary. Questlove earned that award!  (I don't like the idea of deserve vs. undeserved).

 

[janea4old]

Watch Summer of Soul.  Just do it.  You'll feel a joy that is needed.
It's available on Hulu, Amazon, and Disney Plus.

[I Am A Swede]

If he was asked to leave and refused then they should have had him removed. It could have caused more mayhem, but letting him stay set a dangerous precedent.

[DramatistDreamer]

The question is if. There are conflicting statements that came from the Academy itself. 

The Academy has already set many dangerous precedents. The aforementioned Allen and Weinstein. Roman Polanski's standing ovation. Many are now citing Adrien Brody grabbing and kissing Halle Berry without her permission as what would be called sexual assault today.

[I Am A Swede]

Absolutely if.  As you say, there have been conflicting reports on that subject.

 

As for the other things you mentioned....

Woody Allen is a tricky one. He's never been, as far as I recall, convicted of anything, has he? One can discuss his relationship with Soon-Yi and how appropriate it is, but questionable behaviour is one thing, and illegal behaviour is another. Mere allegations shouldn't be enough, especially when they're as contested as the allegations towards him are, otherwise we're on a very dangerous path.

Harvey Weinstein's behaviour was apparently an open secret in Hollywood and noone did anything about it. But when it came out into the light the Academy did expel him. Too little too late some might say, and that's unquestionably true, but they did react however late.

Roman Polanski.... well, there's no excuse for that. You could drag up the old separate the art from the artist, but whichever way you put it the Academy (and most of Hollywood) honoured and rewarded a rapist and a fugitive from the law. I can't and won't ever condone or support that.

Adrien Brody..... I can see how that could be seen as a sexual assault (although maybe assault sounds a little too harsh) and I wouldn't have blamed Halle if she had been upset. I would perhaps be willing to view that with a little more lenience though, since winning an Academy Award is undoubtedly a highly emotional moment and sometimes people do things when they're in such an emotional state they would never normally do.

 

[Khan]

I think what pisses me off is that Will was (reportedly) ASKED to leave the ceremonies.  Like, that right there displays the kind of privilege that gets afforded to celebrities (even AA celebrities) over non-celebrities.  Because, if he'd been just plain, ordinary Will Smith from West Philadelphia, PA, he wouldn't have been ASKED to leave.  He wouldn't have even been TOLD to leave.  Security would have just escorted his ass off the stage, out of the building and into the back of a waiting police car.

[BetterForgotten]

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[Soapsuds]

Tara Setmayer hit a nerve when she called Whoopi an elite hypocrite

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She wasn't happy and snapped back and continued defending Will.

No punishment will be good enough. 

[DramatistDreamer]

According to TMZ (usually I don't give the time to but somehow it came across my TL), the Academy lied about asking Will to leave. This is why I stated that there are conflicting statements on this.

[j swift]

I wonder, given that today's reports are based on a CBS reporter who was in the room and didn't see anyone ask Will to leave, if the Academy tasked Will's PR person with the request for him to leave and Will refused?  Because we know that PR consulted with Will, just after Denzel told him that that the Devil made him do it.  Thus, both sides are correct.