WASHINGTON. BREAKING NEWS: I didn’t watch the 91st Academy Awards. This annual event has become far too embarrassing.
I cringe while multi-millionaires play at being the voice of the put-upon and the downtrodden. All the while, they’re clad in designer gowns and bizarre tuxedo clones, their necks draped in ostentatious gold chains and multi-million-dollar necklaces. Meanwhile, they’re carted around to and fro in stretch limousines to attend various events. Along the way, they are offered acres of expensive culinary delicacies to shove down their pampered gullets by the likes of celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.
Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. E! News screen capture.
The revolution will be televised
These are the faces of what fancies itself to be the brave, revolutionary #Resistance.
But it’s a revolution without much of a following. Reportedly, major advertisers for the 91st Academny Awards telecast demanded and got a guarantee from ABC. The guarantee? If the broadcast failed to reach a certain number of viewers, the advertisers would receive a partial refund from the network.
Ouch!
The good news – if you can call it that – is that viewership popped by 6 percent last Sunday. But the 2018 Oscars witnessed the Award Ceremony’s worse ratings plunge in more than 40 years. That means the meager bump generated by the 91st Academy Awards telecast is nothing for the entertainment industry to celebrate.
Regarding the 91st Academy Awards telecast and beyond: No one cares anymore
Actor Billy Porter in a dress. ET Canada screen capture.
It seems that Hollywood’s culture-conscious dream factory isn’t getting much love from America’s great unwashed in Flyover Country. You know, the folks who cling (bitterly) to God, guns, and country. Those turning a deaf ear to the concerns of Hollywood’s coddled elite. Those who view little-known actor Billy Porter’s Oscar outfit – tuxedo jacket, bow tie, and flowing black velvet gown – as symptomatic of gender dysphoria.
And don’t, as the media would have us believe, regard this childish silliness as an act of “bravery.”
Playing the race card
Director Spike Lee. Inside Edition screen capture.
And then there’s the latest grandstanding of perpetually aggrieved film director Spike Lee. He stormed toward the exits of Hollywood’s Dolby Theater after losing to “Green Book” in the Best Picture category. But he eventually returned to his seat. He was probably informed in advance that his burning anger was needed to illuminate the Oscar stage.
But Lee did receive a consolation prize in the Academy’s award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his film “BlacKkKlansman.” This provided him an opportunity to deliver the Oscar Award’s annual “America is so racist” speech.
And thus, Lee informed white America there was a way to make up for 30 years of Oscar slights and 400 years of racism.
“The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilize. Let’s all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love vs. hate. Let’s do the right thing!”
Right.
Look out, America: MAGA’s out to get you!
Jussie Smollett on GMA – Screen Shot
Speaking of hate, the name of newly-disgraced actor Jussie Smollett for some reason did not come up at this year’s Academy Awards. You may recall that the “Empire” actor recently claimed he was the victim of a hate crime.
Read Also: Jussie Smollett may not be a victim, but America is
Allegedly, he was abused and assaulted as he was walking the mean streets of Chicago. He said the attack resulted from his coming down “really, really hard against 45 [President Trump]. I come really, really hard against his administration. I don’t hold my tongue,” Smollett told Robin Roberts while appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
He further claimed that a pair of white, MAGA-hatted attackers hurled racial and gay epithets at him as they roughed him up. They then poured an “unknown substance” on him and placed a noose around his neck, yelling, “This is MAGA country!”
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, himself an African American, later held a press conference to say the evidence strongly suggests Smollett staged his own attack.
“I’m left hanging my head and asking why. Why would anyone, especially an African American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations? How could someone look at the hatred and suffering associated with that symbol and see an opportunity to manipulate that symbol to further his own public profile?”
Read also: Anti-MAGA liberal narratives nothing but noble lies wrapped in tissue
Money, egos and tired narratives
It seems Smollett may have done the wrong thing by perpetuating the “America is so racist” narrative to, as some suggest, boost his public profile as one way to boost his $65,000 per episode salary during the upcoming season of “Empire.”
The same motivation may hold true for certain directors desperate to gain that elusive and shiny gold statuette for Best Picture.
It’s getting a lot harder for America’s cultural, journalistic, and political elites to sell their bilge to an increasingly aware American public. That said, shouldn’t they follow ABC’s lead in its treatment of advertisers underwriting the network’s 91st Academy Awards telecast? Shouldn’t these privileged elites give all of us substantial refunds for ceaselessly insulting us, hoaxing us, wasting our time, and overcharging us for the honor?
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Top Image: ABC’s telecast of the 91st Academy Awards. Screen capture.
Key Words: 91st Academy Awards, Academy Awards, Oscars, Hollywood, Stephen Nemo
