Is Oscar Racist?

One of the readers of this rant decided to use it as proof of my supposed racism. For the record, that's utter cock. Seems that, to some on the political left, any mention of race is enough to see one tarred with the fascist-brush.



Well, the Oscars have come and gone for yet another year. The glamour and glitz were toned down due to September 11th, so the teeth and tits didn't get quite as much of an airing as they might otherwise have done. Quite why they did this I don't know; surely it would have made more sense to celebrate the fact that they're all still alive to make movies, and that the country that hosts the awards is still much the same as it was before Bin Laden decided to carve out his place in history. I suppose that it wouldn't do to be seen enjoying oneself in the distant wake of an event that saw a body count of 3,500 and falling. So despite the fact that the whole event was designed to be a multimillion-dollar spectacular involving hedonism, celebration, and (because the movie business is, after all, a business) deals being closed, the public face of the Oscars was of comparative restraint. I imagine the good parties started once the press had buggered off or stunned themselves with whatever pills, powders, and drinks they could get their hands on. Ah, the sweet smell of hypocrisy. And speaking of which...

You may know that Denzil Washington and Halle Berry won the best Actor and Actress awards. I've seen neither of the films that earned them the prize so I have no idea whether or not they deserved to win (although based on Ms Berry's acceptance speech, I would say she has ample talent for acting...). Yet apparently their success is big news because they are (and look over your shoulder before whispering this) black.

Now I'm clearly a very naive young man, because I plain and simple don't understand why there has been such a song and dance about it. In truth I found a lot of the post Oscar coverage and analysis rather offensive. Elegantly coiffured men and women stood outside the venue reporting breathlessly that a black man and a black woman had each won an Oscar. I half expecting them to follow this piece of news with the words "Aren't they clever?! Who would have thought that they had it in them?". It sounded like they were filing a report about a performing seal that had done a particularly good trick.

And then we had the debate about "What does this mean for black people in America?". Well, I'm no expert in this matter but I suspect that it means the same for black people as it does for everybody; it means we know who won the Oscars for Best Actor and Best Actress. Should it really mean any more than that? I mean, I do appreciate that there is racism in the film industry; most of the movers and shakers in Hollywood are male WASP's and so it follows that certain racist views will become institutionalised in the upper echelons of the business. Naturally, we should applaud anything that seeks to remove that bigoted element. I'm just not entirely sure that what we saw in yesterday's media was the right way to go about it.

Firstly, such a big screaming deal was made of it. Why should it be so out of the ordinary that a black person wins an Oscar? Or an Oriental person? Or an Hispanic person? When such an event is reported in terms of "Well, this is unusual" I would say it helps propagate racism rather than combat it. After all, we are drawing attention to their race and making an issue of it. If someone is a talented actor then they are a talented actor, it doesn't matter what their colour or creed. Filmmaking is considered an art (although if that is the case then Pearl Harbour is a shit smeared canvass...) and I always thought that art should transcend the colour of your skin. If you hear a good song, or read a good book do you care about the racial makeup of the writer? So why should we care about the skin colour of an actor?

In one respect, some of the things that have been done to combat racism in the last few years seem to have made us care more about race than we might have done before. Complaining about the Music Of Black Origin awards is old hat, as are comments about the outcry that would be raised if a Music Of White Origin award was instituted. But they do have a certain amount of validity to them. After all, your friendly neighbourhood racist can now argue that there is no need for mainstream awards to be given to black artists as they have their own. He can perhaps further argue that it is a disgrace that there are no race-specific film awards for non-whites, as black artists have clearly shown that they want to considered separately from white artists.

That's all horrific nonsense of course; without wishing to sound patronising I would imagine that what black artists want is the same as what white artists want; the recognition of their peers. And that is no different throughout the world; people just want to be accepted by others, and perhaps get some recognition for their achievements. The coverage of the Oscars suggested that we should recognise the fact that Mr. Washington and Ms Berry are black before we consider their talent. I consider that to be just as racist as any argument used by the BNP or Nation of Islam (because a lot of their segregationist views would be at home in a KKK charter) and to have it peddled to us on the mainstream news is offensive. It's a fine line of course; if we totally ignore racial issues then racism creeps back in. But when we are still viewing a black Oscar winner as a curiosity to be commented upon then we can't claim to be consigning it to history either.