While the network and Hollywood’s all-powerful Academy are yet to react to the poor show on TV, despite super host Jimmy Kimmel being in charge, one can safely guess that the current 18 to 40 viewer’s swift changeover in loyalties to online streamed shows and increased appetite for viewing online has affected appointment viewing.
Additionally, Kimmel’s frequent criticism of President Trump could have turned off a section of audiences in America.
And a second major factor could be the fact that the Oscars didn’t pack any punches. It incorporated the potentially volatile #MeToo movement and #TimesUp campaign comfortably in its program rundown order with three victims of Harvey Weinstein, dressed in their best, sharing a diversity video; a far cry from straight forward activism. It didn’t surprise with a single upset and awarded those that were predicted to be winners. (The Shape of Water for Best Film, Guillermo Del Toro for Best Director, Allison Janney for Best Supporting Actress, etc), It is entirely possible that viewers, having tuned in, might have tuned out once predictability and boredom settled in.
The zingiest bit about the Oscar ceremony came at the end when Frances McDormand won Best Actress and saluted women power of female nominees. Otherwise, this Swarvoski crystals-studded night clearly established the most obvious fact — the Oscars remain an elite club, where they award their own without paying much attention to accusations of abuse, harassment or morally wrong deeds.
The most visible win that reflects that Oscars come to some anyway, is Gary Oldman. He won Best Actor for his performance as Winston Churchill in The Darkest Hour. Oldman’s ex-wife Donya Fiorentino has accused Oldman of domestic abuse in the past, stating that he tried to squeeze her neck, and hit her on the face, in front of their crying children during a domestic fight. Fiorentino has a history of pain killer addiction and shared past of alcohol addiction with the actor.
Oldman called her a liar, won custody of their children and never clarified his stand. Fiorentino has lost no time is also pointing out that the Oscars awarded an abuser. Oldman is known to mouth abuse during interviews, abusing Democrat Party leader Nancy Pelosi during one such session.
He has also called Mel Gibson a ‘victim’ of ‘a Jewish conspiracy’; clearly an actor whose immense talent overshadows his temperamental problems. Yet Oldman received a standing ovation when he went onstage to collect his trophy.
A British actor who had chosen to make Hollywood his home, Oldman is also known to fraternize and socialize with those who matter at the studios.
As Kobe Bryant won an Oscar for best animated short for Dear Basketball, accusations of rape and out of court settlements that the basketball star has been part of, were put on the back burner. A 19-year-old hotel employee accused Bryant of rape in 2003, which he denied forcefully till authorities linked DNA evidence to him. He tried deflecting these accusations by calling it a consensual extramarital encounter, and then proceeded to settle a civil case out of court.
He also issued a long, heavily worded statement, stating that the woman had not been paid off to buy her silence, and that she had not viewed their sexual encounter as consensual. In brief, he admitted to rape. But none of that interfered with his stratospheric rise to NBA demigod. Now, with two active social media campaigns waging war against sexual abuse and harassment, Bryant’s Oscar especially rankles. It indicates that the Academy will reward it’s own kind, despite a changing social climate.
Jimmy Kimmel cracked a joke during his speech when he referred to Weinstein’s expulsion from the Academy. The only other member to have been expelled EARLIER was a video editor who had shared a screener (special DVD prints of nominated films) with someone who wasn’t a member. The quantum of punishment for both was the same.
Ironically, this puts the spotlight on a continuous relationship that the Academy awards have with men accused of abuse, rape and harassment. It took the people-driven, volatile and visible #MeToo Campaign this year to exclude erstwhile certified abusers — Roman Polanski and Woody Allen.
Regularly accused by people of lack of representation of Hispanic, Black and Asian talent, the Academy has expanded its membership by 774 new voting members from diverse ethnicities. From India, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Irrfan Khan and Aamir Khan have voting rights.
The Academy never discloses which members participated in a particular round of voting.
The presence of diversity was also evident in key nominations this year with Rachel Morrison becoming the first female cinematographer in the awards’ 90-year history to be nominated for Best Cinematography; and Vanessa Taylor being a rare co-nominee in the Best Original Screenplay category for The Shape of Water. Greta Gerwig became only the fifth woman to get nominated for Best Director ever.
Yet, the Academy chose to award those who were tipped to win, utilizing these nominations smartly to deflect criticism and accusations of bias. That The Shape of Water, accused of plagiarism (by respected playwright Paul Zindel, of having been adapted from his play <Let Me Hear You Whisper>) won four Oscars indicates that fair play isn’t always priority for Hollywood’s elite.
The Oscars scored a victory when it had the trio of Ashley Judd, Anabella Sciorra and Salma Hayek onstage together to highlight that abuse, harassment and general bad behavior at the workplace will not be accepted.
Yet, in its contradictory approach towards Kobe Bryant and Gary Oldman, it also reflected that beyond tokenism, there is still a lot to change about applause and accolades within this powerful film fraternity.
Add to that the fact that Ryan Seacrest, accused of sexual harassment by his personal assistant, hosted the much-viewed E! Oscar show on the red carpet, and you know that it’s business as usual at the movies.
The late John Heard, also accused of stalking and harassment, found his spot in the In Memoriam section.
In tacit acceptance of ‘boys will be boys’ behaviour from some, the Oscar awards give legitimacy to menfolk who might lose work because of accusations of bad behaviour, violent behaviour and sexual harassment.
But the awards must know that in incorporation of radical movements within its smooth flow, the Oscar awards risk being relegated to stuff that the young and woke don’t like to watch.
Being in touch with one’s evolving audience is very important for those who make films. Perhaps this can explain why the Oscar awards were such a poor show on TV this year. It simply didn’t get the people’s pulse.
letters@tehelka.com
Stop the ‘private brigades’ from wrecking havoc!
Why should political characters in a democracy raise and nurture their own private brigades? For the last few years the who’s who in the Right –wing political parties are seen pampering their little armies, their ‘private senas’. And nobody dares to ask why they are raising these brigades, when the police and the paramilitary and, of course, the RSS cadres are at their beck and call!
Who gives them the sanction to maintain these brigades? Who pays for their upkeep? Who controls them? Who directs them? Who trains them to target the ‘enemy’? Who all are fitted into these brigades and what for? What’s the difference between them and the political mafia? Are these brigades an extension if not an integral part of the mafia causing havoc in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan? Aren’t they responsible for the overnight displacements and sudden shifts of entire clans of the disadvantaged communities?
under the control of the rulers of the day.
It is essential to know the role played by private brigades during rioting and pogroms and also during extortion and kidnapping bids. But who would dare raise questions, in the backdrop of the fact that they seem to be functioning
Last week, as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath campaigned in his constituency, Gorakhpur, I got in touch with local activists to know the role played by his own brigade — Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV). I was told it yields total and absolute control in the area. A sense of fear prevails amongst the local population, who dare not veto dictates and commands of this Vahini.
Needless to add, the worst affected are the Dalits, Christians and Muslims of the region. It would be naïve to expect the disadvantaged communities of Uttar Pradesh rebelling against the Hindutva agenda unleashed on them. They told me that they have learnt to sit quiet and subdued at the build-ups, unprovoked by the provocative Hindutva slogans raised in their neighborhood. Several even recounted the aftermath of the Kasganj riots and the Hindutva brigades’ role in those riots. In fact, a large number of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh seem to have already accepted their second or third-class positioning for the sake of the so many sakes! And with this backgrounder, its downright silly for political commentators to come up with those typical utterances — ‘See, how Muslims are okay with Yogi Adityanath as chief minister. No revolt, no outcry, no rebellion!’
Do the hapless citizens have a choice? Wouldn’t they get gunned down and their children attacked if they dare snub Yogi Adityanath and his men. Fear of the political brigades is writ large to such an extent that even the who’s who avoid stepping out after sunset. And as the number of encounters are going up in Uttar Pradesh — as many as 1,142 encounters were recorded between March 2017 and January 2018, and 38 alleged criminals were killed. The vital question doing the rounds in the towns and cities of Uttar Pradesh is this: How many of these encounters are based on personal and political rivalries, to settle old disputes, to unsettle the ‘other’?
Reported cases of these goon brigades attacking individuals who dare to criticize or even question the political rulers are coming up, but who can help out. None! Even before the police force can act or not act, these brigades go about unleashing violence on just about anyone, on any given alibi or pretext. After all, mafia gangs need little sanction to attack.
It is becoming increasingly dangerous as these brigades or vahinis or senas are spreading out, spreading violence in the different regions of our country. Why do we overlook the fact that they are also holding training camps for recruits to attack the ‘enemies’ who are ultimately their own vulnerable countrymen. In fact, in 2016, even when news reports and photographs were splashed in national dailies focused on the VHP and Bajrang Dal holding arms training camps in and around Greater Noida, Varanasi, Ayodhya , there was no outcry. This, when the pictures were enough to show that young men and women were getting training to attack the ‘enemy’ – dummies of skull capped men!
No, it was no overnight development. It is spreading out right now in a blatantly stark and unstoppable manner. I wonder why we are sitting so very subdued and quiet on this when it seems nothing short of political mafia overtaking democratic norms. Fascism here, yet we prefer to look the other way; bypassing and overlooking the eerie build ups.
• • •
Weeks before Khushwant Singh passed away, I had asked if he carried any regrets. “I wish I had taken on these fundoos/ sanghis much more aggressively, as they are hell bent on destroying this land. All these years I’ve been critical of them but should have exposed them much more in my columns and written more, much more on their activities …on the destructions they are wrecking.” He was also more than vocal about the Right-wing nurturing their private senas.
“What I find very disturbing and dangerous is that the communal parties have launched their own private armies. Any government which allows private armies affiliated to political parties is doing nothing short of making inroads for fascism! Fascism is here!”
letters@tehelka.com