Actor and comedian Chris Rock (Photo: Screengrab from www.oscars.go.com)
As a first time documentarian and not yet nominated for anything at all, I offer unqualified praise and laughter to comedian and actor Louis C K for his devastatingly apt description of those who are in that profession.
Last night while presenting the Oscar in the Best Documentary Short Film category, Louis said, “"You cannot make a dime on this. These people will never be rich as long as they live. So this Oscar means something because all they do is tell stories that are important…This Oscar is going home in a Honda Civic. This Oscar is the nicest thing they ever own in their life. It’s going to give them anxiety to keep it in their crappy apartment."
In my case, on top of being a first time documentarian with ‘Gandhi’s Song’ (a neat plug) I am also a seasoned print journalist with 34 years in the profession. That makes me doubly penurious. By some strange coincidence I do drive a Honda Civic which is also my “crappy apartment.” The last bit about my Honda Civic also being my apartment is not true but it could become true any moment.
Although Chris Rock was outstanding as the host, particularly in the shadow of the #OscarsSoWhite movement, I thought this one bit by Louis was perhaps the quip of the night. Rock’s opening was withering and funny at once, the hallmark of a great comedian and soci0cultural observer. However, in terms of jokes that fit the night perfectly Louis’ bit was brilliant. For me it was particularly hilarious because it was so personal. In a way Louis made a case for himself as the next year’s Oscars host without really trying to do it.
Making a documentary is not mandatory for me. No one has asked me to make it. I have done so entirely of my own volition. So I cannot possibly complain about the hardship it entails. My hardship, of course, is a direct consequence of the fact that I was born. That’s a different story.
Rock was widely anticipated to help rescue some of the prestige of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by subjecting it to some severe flagellation for its egregious failure in recognizing diversity among actors and others. In a sense, the Academy members were engaging in an act of very public penance by not standing in the way of Rock’s well-known scalding sociocultural and political humor. He did not disappoint. His opening monologue was razor sharp.
In a particularly stinging description he said Hollywood was not “burning-cross racist” but “sorority racist.” In my viewing Oscars for a long time I have not heard any host construct their word with such hurtful precision. I was reminded of a scene from ‘Becket’ where Peter O’Toole playing King Henry II of England subjects himself to ritual whipping Saxon monks to assuage his sense of guilt about the way Richard Burton playing Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered.
On a separate note, clocking over three hours the Oscars were just too long. They were so long that Chris Rock aged during them and became Morgan Freeman at the end.
I do not have anything much to say about the winners because actors and technicians win every year and that’s that.
On another point, the set design of the stage was superb.