With the Academy Awards approaching this Sunday, the buzz surrounding the event is similar to what it’s been the past few Oscar ceremonies. What kind of political rhetoric will be spewed?
Michael Moore (accepting Best Documentary award for “Bowling for Columbine” in 2003): “We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it's the fiction of duct tape or fiction of orange alerts, we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you.”
Sean Penn (during acceptance speech of Best Actor award for “Mystic River” in 2004): “One thing we actors know, other than there were no WMDs…”
Chris Rock, last year’s emcee: "I'm not going to bash Bush here tonight. I saw 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' I think Bush is a genius. I think Bush did some things this year that nobody in this room could do. ... Because Bush basically reapplied for his job. And can you imagine applying for a job and while you're applying there's a movie in every theater in the country that shows how much you suck at the job? It would be hard to get hired, wouldn't it?”
This year’s extravaganza will be emceed by Jon Stewart, who makes his living hosting the faux news program “The Daily Show”, which parodies politics, etc.
In Charles Krauthammer’s most recent column, I believe he provides some great insights to the continued depravity in Hollywood.
Nothing tells you more about Hollywood than what it chooses to honor. Nominated for best foreign film is "Paradise Now", a sympathetic portrayal of two suicide bombers. Nominated for best picture is "Munich,'' a sympathetic portrayal of yesterday's fashion in barbarism: homicide terrorism.
But until you see "Syriana", nominated for best screenplay (and George Clooney, for best supporting actor) you have no idea how self-flagellation and self-loathing pass for complexity and moral seriousness in Hollywood.
"Syriana's'' script has, of course, the classic liberal tropes such as this stage direction: "The Deputy National Security Advisor, MARILYN RICHARDS, 40's, sculpted hair, with the soul of a seventy year-old white, Republican male, is in charge'' (Page 21). Or this piece of over-the-top, Gordon Gekko Republican-speak, placed in the mouth of a Texas oilman: "Corruption is our protection. Corruption is what keeps us safe and warm. ... Corruption ... is how we win'' (Page 93).
The political candidates supported by Hollywood folks continue to be rejected on Election Day. So how does Hollywood react? Like a bunch of petulant children. They don’t get their way so they attempt to belittle and smear the victors.
Most liberalism is angst- and guilt-ridden, seeing moral equivalence everywhere. "Syriana" is of a different species entirely -- a pathological variety that burns with the certainty of its malign anti-Americanism. Osama bin Laden could not have scripted this film with more conviction.
It will be interesting to see if bin Laden quotes movie lines from “Syriana” like he did with “Fahrenheit 9/11.”
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