The 94th Oscars: We Need To Talk About Will and Chris. Not Bruno.

 Before we go too much further, here were some of the winners at the 94th Academy Awards, which were held Sunday night in Los Angeles:

• Best Supporting Actress went to Ariana DuBose for "West Side Story", the very same award Rita Moreno won back in 1961.
• Best Supporting Actor went to Troy Kotsur for "CODA".
• Jane Campion was named Best Director for "The Power of the Dog".
• Best Actress went to Jessica Chastain for "The Eyes of Tammy Faye".
• And the Oscar for Best Picture went to "CODA", the first to be seen mainly on a streaming service (Apple TV+).
• "Dune" won ten craft awards, most of which were relegated to commercial breaks.
• There was a musical number from the animated film "Encanto", which included Megan Thee Stallion, called "We Don't Talk About Bruno".

Right now, we need to talk about what happened between Will Smith, Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith.  Not Bruno.  Together, they turned the Oscars from another overlong snoozefest into a horror show that even Hollywood couldn't have scripted.

In his monologue prior to announcing the award for Best Documentary, Rock made a tasteless joke about Pinkett Smith's hair.  She has been living with alopecia, a hair loss disease that affects thousands of people per year in the U.S. alone. Will, her husband, took exception to the joke.  He confronted Rock onstage, slapped him, then returned to his seat shouting expletives.

You might say Will was trying to defend his woman, but that's not how it looked to those who watched the incident inside the Dolby Theater and on TV around the world.  In the olden days, a slap on the face with a velvet glove was often an invitation to a duel, which was settled with guns at the crack of dawn.  It has evolved into shootouts on the mean streets of Dodge City or Tombstone, or just about any American city today..  At least that's according to Hollywood.

A few minutes later, Smith was announced as the winner of the Best Actor Oscar for "King Richard"--his first.  He played Richard Williams, who taught his daughters Venus and Serena how to be tennis champions in a mostly unorthodox manner.  Smith used his acceptance speech to apologize to everyone except Rock for the incident, and to explain that Williams also did all he could to protect his daughters.

In the aftermath, it must be noted that Smith is one of the most powerful men in Hollywood and will likely survive this incident, even if it is now tainted.  Rock, who has hosted the Oscars before, will now have to think a little more before making edgy jokes at the expense of his targets.  And now standup comedians and other performers have to worry about idiots who get up on stage and harass them.

Today, Smith issued an apology to Rock and others on social media.  To date, Rock has not filed criminal charges against Smith.  And the Academy put up a statement denouncing violence, while deciding what to do about disciplining Smith.  It's not likely that they'll ask for their Best Actor Oscar back.

The movies are a place for escape and fantasy, even in troubled times like these.  What we didn't need was a dose of Reality TV.

UPDATE (4/9/22):  The Academy has banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars for the next ten years, which is kind of a moot point since Smith said he was going to resign from the Academy anyway.  Remember what we said about Smith being one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood? That'll certainly be put to the test going forward. 

China '22, Week 2: Beijing Olympics on Thin Ice

The Winter Olympics in Beijing ended Sunday with the usual bombast and blather about how sports promotes peace and world harmony.  Which would sound even better if these Games hadn't been held in a totalitarian country during a pandemic.

But there they were, athletes from around the world competing in empty stadiums, getting tested for Covid-19 and its variants, shuffling from venue to venue to living quarters and back, without so much as moral support from back home or being able to say what they really think about the situation they're in.

Here's the final medal count:     

                        Gold            Silver            Bronze            Total

Norway              16                8                      13                  37

ROC                    6                12                     14                  32

Germany            12               10                       5                  27

Canada                4                  8                      14                 26

USA                      8                10                      7                   25  

• Kamila Valieva, the teenaged figure skater from the Russian Olympic Committee who was cleared to compete in the women's finals in spite of using a banned substance that she claimed was her grandfather's heart medication, turned in such a terrible performance at the final free skate that her coaches were colder to her than an Arctic front from Siberia.  Two of her ROC teammates won gold and silver, but didn't seem too happy about it considering the circumstances.  Unless the powers in figure skating helps fix the doping crisis and raise the age of skaters, we shouldn't call this the "Women's" Figure Skating Championships.
• Oh yes.  Because of the situation involving Valieva, the other participants in the Team Skating competition are still waiting for their medals.
• The biggest name to come out of these Olympics was Eileen Gu, a freestyle skier from the United States who chose to compete for China, her mother's homeland.
• In the NHL-less men's hockey tournament, Finland won its first-ever gold medal over the favored ROC team 2-1.  The Canadians won another women's hockey gold medal over their only rivals in the United States 3-2.
• Snow fell on the slopes in China.  The natural stuff, not the man-made kind that created some problems for skiers.
• NBC drew more than 100 million viewers for the Super Bowl.  They'll be lucky to get anywhere near that with Olympics coverage on the network, Peacock, USA Network and various other sources.  A lot of it wasn't their fault with the 14-hour time difference, lack of familiar sports and personalities, and the fact that it was in China.  But the decision to do the coverage from studios in Connecticut instead of on site, while understandable because of China's Covid policies, took all the starch out of being there.  Then again, we've gotten used to that stuff the past couple of years.

The torch has been passed to Milan and Cortina in Italy for 2026.  Unless something changes, the Olympic movement will continue to be run by governments who can pay the freight, organizations who can pay the International Olympic Committee to look the other way, and sponsors and networks who shell out billions to see which eyeballs are attracted to what they're selling.

In the end, though, it's still about athletes who want to compete at their best.  That will never change.

 

China '22, Week 1: More Scandals, Less Snow.

 The Winter Olympics in Beijing continued on its dreary pace with restrictions sucking the life out of it.  And that's without China doing all it can to try and eradicate the COVID-19 virus and its Omicron variant from within its borders.  In other news from the week:

• Reacting to worldwide disgust over their alleged treatment of Uyghurs, the Chinese cynically used an Uyghur skier to carry the Olympic flame for the opening ceremonies.
• What looked like silos from an abandoned nuclear power plant (which the Chinese tell us aren't really) were hard to miss during the freestyle skiing competition.  If this were Springfield, USA (hometown of "The Simpsons") instead of Beijing, plant owner Montgomery Burns would be in his office rubbing his hands and saying "Excellent!".  Nonetheless, it looks weird.
• What snow there is, by the way, is 100 percent man-made.  Just like your local ski slope.
• The scandals keep coming.  Kamila Valieva, a 15-year old figure skater from Russia (known as the Russian Olympic Committee for these Games), is currently allowed to compete in spite of testing positive for a banned substance.  It's the reason why the final results for Team Figure Skating have been delayed, and why her place in the Women's Figure Skating competition is in doubt.

We need to talk about Mikaela Shiffrin, the heir apparent to now-retired Lindsey Vonn as America's alpine skiing queen.  Pegged to win several medals in Beijing, she flamed out in her first two races by missing early gates.  After the second slipup, NBC cameras caught Shiffrin rolled up in a ball of misery out of bounds for several minutes while other skiers whizzed past her.  The question became:  Are we witnessing the next Simone Biles, whose legendary withdrawal from several gymnastic events at the Tokyo Olympics, put athletes and mental health front and center?  Turns out, no. Shiffrin completed her Super G run the following day without incident and without medals.  We'll see what happens next.

The medal count as of 2/13/ 22 reads like this (from ESPN.com):

NORWAY  Nine gold, five silver, seven bronze= 21

ROC           Four gold, five silver, eight bronze=17

GERMANY  Eight gold, five silver, one bronze=14

AUSTRIA  Four gold, six silver, four bronze=14

CANADA   One gold, four silver, nine bronze=14

U.S.              Six gold, five silver, one bronze=12 (tied for sixth with Netherlands)

NBC is, predictably, getting hammered in the TV ratings.  But they don't seem to be too concerned about it, because the numbers on streaming service Peacock and social media are trending upwards so far.  So in the end, this may not be the most watched Olympics ever.  Instead, this might be the most viewed ever.  We shall see.

Another week to go.  Who knows, maybe a war might start.

The Winter Olympics: China Being China

 The Winter Olympic games are underway in Beijing, China, six months after the Summer Games ended belatedly in Tokyo, Japan.  Beijing is hosting its second Olympics this century (the last in 2008), and is now the first city to have hosted both versions.

The COVID-19 virus, which has since mutated from variant to variant and continues to sicken and kill millions of people around the world, is again affecting the conduct of these Olympics.  Just like in Tokyo, the athletes who compete here will face venues with no spectators save for invited guests, extensive testing and social distancing.  Those who violate the rules are likely to remain guests of China until long after these Games are over.

China being China, not only will the government be cracking down on COVID, but also on foreign and domestic journalists and dissidents who don't stick to the script when it comes to human rights abuses, uprisings in Hong Kong and other sensitive topics.  The United States is leading a diplomatic boycott of these Games for those reasons--that is, send the athletes but not government officials,  But since so much of the world's economy revolves around China, you can't afford to piss them off too much.

As athletes from Russia are competing under the name ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) as punishment for alleged doping violations, President Vladimir Putin is risking a world war with a possible invasion of Ukraine.  Adding to the pressure is President Joe Biden's decision to send American troops near the Ukrainian border as an attempt to get Putin to back off.  Oh, and both sides still have enough nuclear missiles to blow each other up.

The National Hockey League, who you would think had wanted to come to China for the exposure that country could provide just like other North American sports leagues have, has once again begged off sending its players to the Olympics.  Because they've had problems scheduling games and keeping rosters together due to COVID, as well as balking at China's restrictions, the NHL decided to use its Olympic break on rescheduled games just to get its season back on track.  Which leaves the men's hockey competition with rosters full of whoever they could get, and possibly affect the quality of play.

As you watch skiiers, figure skaters, speed skaters, curlers and others on whatever video device you're watching from, keep in mind that the announcers calling the action is in a studio half a world away.  NBC, which has held the American TV rights to the Olympics since forever (1988, actually), moved most of its announcing staff to its sports headquarters in Connecticut to call games off monitors because of China's COVID policies.  They also might be walking a tightrope when it comes to honest appraisals of how China and the International Olympic Committee is behaving during these Games, to put it mildly.

The IOC has had a longer history of cozying up to dictators and oppressive governments than a certain former (and future?) President of the United States.  Germany 1936.  Russia 1980 and 2014.  China 2008 and 2022.  Promoting international brotherhood (or whatever the term is now) through sports has given way to the universal language of money, and we are the poorer for it.  The next few Olympiads will be held in what are now considered democracies:  France in 2024, Italy in '26, the United States in '28, and Australia in '32.

Let's all see what happens in China for the next few weeks, whether they're behaving themselves or if they're just being China. 

2021: Be Careful What You Wished For

 Remember when we were all looking forward to 2021 after a disastrous 2020?

The pandemic is still with us, having taken more than 800,000 in this country alone through COVID-19 and its variants Delta and Omicron.  In spite of vaccines and booster shots that give you a better chance against the virus, we're tired of telling people who don't want the vaccine to get one because we're also tired of listening to their excuses.  We're also tired of having to wear masks, at least indoors, even though they're a good way to hold back the virus.  We're also tired of crowded hospitals, overwhelmed doctors, nurses and support staff, zoom meetings, your kids learning remotely, etc.  But most of all, we're tired because there seems to be no end in sight.

The coup attempt on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 has so far resulted in indictments on the protestors who participated in storming it while a full session of Congress was going on, and not so much for the alleged perpetrators of the event.  The House of Representatives stepped in to investigate this matter because the Senate can't or won't offend Donald Trump, the former President who still thinks he should have won the 2020 election.  Realistically, they have until the 2022 midterms to wrap up their work finding heads willing to roll.

Joe Biden, the man who now sits in the White House, deserves credit for lowering the temperature from the previous administration.  He also deserves credit for ending America's longest war in Afghanistan, though the way he left was a lot to be desired, reminding one of the way America finally left Vietnam in chaos in 1975.  The President's efforts to fix up the infrastructure and his Build Back Better social agenda have had mixed results thanks to the Democratic roadblocks in Congress no one had heard of until this year--Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and (to a lesser extent) Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, both moderates who could pass for Republicans in this political climate.  In other ways, especially when it comes to the virus, Biden appears to be in over his head just like Trump was.  But at least he's taking the job more seriously.  With all that's happened, can you believe this is only Biden's first year in office?

The U.S. Supreme Court already had its conservative coup, which resulted in a 6-3 majority, and whose decisions might eventually lead to a more restrictive country.  The most notorious thus far is the one about upholding Texas' new and restrictive abortion law, leaving women in that state with nowhere to turn and no one to trust (legally) when they find out they're pregnant.  Most Democrats and women's rights groups fear this is the beginning of the end for Roe v. Wade, the ruling that has kept abortions safe and legal for half a century.  Something tells me 2022 is not the year for a change in the Supreme Court to a more liberal mix.  Not unless Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell decides to hang it up.

One year after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was recorded taking a knee to George Floyd's life during a routine traffic stop, he was convicted of murder.  Eight months after Brooklyn Park officer Kim Potter mistook a gun for a taser in killing Daunte Wright in a routine traffic stop, she was convicted on two counts of manslaughter.  Cries of "Defund the Police" resulted in an election day defeat in Minneapolis.  The police chief who was on duty when Floyd's murder and the violence that hit the Twin Cities were going on has "retired", and Mark Frey won a second term as Minneapolis' mayor.  Now let's see if police officers (and everyone else) really can be careful out there.

Did we mention a school shooting in Michigan and a car ramming through a holiday parade in Wisconsin?  Just another day in America, right?

In sports, COVID went away long enough to allow Tom Brady to claim another Super Bowl trophy for his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Tampa Bay's NHL team, the Lightning. won its second straight Stanley Cup. Atlanta's baseball team won the World Series.  And the Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA title for the first time since 1970.  Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and Kyrie Irving made more headlines for NOT playing than for when they did.  And Major League Baseball is currently in a lockout, in case you haven't noticed.

Heatwaves in the Pacific Northwest. Tornadoes in December in Minnesota and Kentucky.  A deep-freeze in Texas.  Wildfires out West and in Canada, creating smoke alerts in half the country.  Is this climate change, or just the sound of progress?

It's been over a year since Alex Trebek went to that Game Show in the Sky, and "Jeopardy" still hasn't come up with a permanent host.  After the parade of guest hosts has come and gone (Aaron Rodgers, Katie Couric and that guy from CNBC, anyone?), we're left with the tag team of former champion Ken Jennings and sitcom star Mayim Bialik after executive producer Mike Richards had to quit due to some stupid indiscretion.  For a show based on answers and questions, the most important one right now is how "Jeopardy" should address its future.

THOSE WHO PASSED IN 2021:  John Madden, Henry Reid, Desmond Tutu, Joan Didion, bell hooks, Anne Rice, Michael Nesmith, Lina Wertmuller, Al Unser, Robert Dole, Arlene Dahl, Lee Elder, Stephen Sondheim, Graeme Edge, Max Cleland, Dean Stockwell, Mort Sahl, Colin Powell, Leslie Bricusse, Melvin Van Peebles, Jane Powell, Norm Macdonald, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Willard Scott, David Patten, Mikis Theodorakis, Ed Asner, Charlie Watts, Don Everly, Tom T. Hall, Nanci Griffith, Dusty Hill, Ron Popeil, Richard Donner, Mike Gravel, Janet Malcolm, Frank Bonner, Ned Beatty, Dick Robinson, Clarence Williams III, F. Lee Bailey, Gavin MacLeod, John Warner, Lee Evans, Charles Grodin, Norman Lloyd, Tawny Kitaen, Lloyd Price, Bobby Unser, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Collins, Walter Mondale, Jim Steinman, Felix Silla, Prince Phillip (Duke of Edinburgh), DMX, Anne Beatts, Larry McMurtry, Beverly Cleary, Jessica Walter, George Segal, Yaphet Kotto, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Roger Mudd, Lou Otters, Mark Pavelich, Vernon Jordan, Chick Corea, Mary Wilson, George Shultz, Christopher Plummer, Leon Spinks, Rennie Davis, Dustin Diamond, Cicely Tyson, Cloris Leachman, Larry King, Hank Aaron, Tommy Lasorda, Michael Apted, Neil Sheehan, Rush LImbaugh, Sarah Weddington, F.W. deKlerk, Peter Scolari, Michael K. Williams, Markie Post, Carl Levin, Biz Markie, Suzanne Douglas, Donald Rumsfeld, Bobby Bowden, Paul Westphal, Elgin Baylor, Phil Spector, Tony Trabert, Marty Schottenheimer, Larry Flynt, Bobby Brown, G. Gordon Liddy, Pervis Staples, B.J. Thomas, Walter Yetnikoff, Michael Constantine, Alan Kalter, Betty Lynn, Sam Jones, and Betty White. 

Emmy Awards Hail Their "Crown"-ing Achievement

 The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles Sunday was held inside a glorified tent with those who were nominated the invited guests, part of the COVID-19 protocol that put the ceremony one step above the Zoom-fest they had last year.  CBS televised the proceedings with one of its sitcom stars, Cedric the Entertainer ("The Neighborhood"), acting as host.

Amid the so-so comedy bits and rap music intro, awards were handed out.  Most of them went to "The Crown", Netflix's docudrama of Queen Elizabeth II and her family, and to "Ted Lasso" on Apple TV+, the story of an American football coach finding new life as a British soccer manager.

Like what "Schitt's Creek" did in the comedy category a year ago, "The Crown" dominated the Drama category with its sweep of the major acting awards:  Olivia Colman for Actress, Josh O'Connor for Actor, Gillian Anderson for Supporting Actress, Tobias Menzies for Supporting Actor, and the show itself for Best Drama.

"Lasso", besides winning for Best Comedy, did well in the acting categories:  Jason Sudeikis for Best Actor, and Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstien for supporting roles.

"The Queen's Gambit" won for Best Limited Series in a surprise over "Mare of Easttown", though the latter show did garner acting awards for Kate Winslet (Best Actress), Julianne Nicholson and Evan Peters (supporting).  Ewan McGregor won Best Actor for "Halston".

Netflix, long considered the standard for streaming services, set a record with 44 Emmys won, with HBO/HBO Max piling up 19.  The broadcast networks?  "Saturday Night Live", going into its 47th season on NBC, was the only one with an Emmy for Best Variety Sketch Show.

• Plenty of complaints about how the most diverse field of nominees in the history of the Emmys somehow resulted in white actors winning most of the awards.  The Oscars went through this a few years ago, and instituted a few changes to recognize the contributions of people of color.  Maybe this is something the Television Academy should take a look at.
• The Emmys ran well over three hours, which is typical for any awards show.  One of the reasons for the overrun were some of the winners taking too long to wrap up their speeches.  Scott Frank, who won an Emmy for directing "The Queen's Gambit", blew through several minutes and three choruses of play-off music to say whatever it was he had to say.  "White Man's Privilege", as some people have called it?  No, just another arrogant jerk.  The kind we've seen plenty of in the last few years.
• "Hamilton", the Broadway musical that put American history in an alternative universe, has now conquered TV.  It won an Emmy for best pre-recorded variety show.  Sounds like the Television Academy dreamed up this category for the sole purpose of saluting Lin-Manuel Miranda's work.
• Conan O'Brien ended his TBS talk show a few months ago, hoping the Television Academy would give him a going-away present in the Best Variety Talk Show category.  When the Emmy went to "Last Week Tonight" for the umpteenth time (no slight to John Oliver or his show), O'Brien reacted in mock outrage, heckling during the Academy President's speech and being in the background as Stephen Colbert accepted an Emmy for his Showtime (not CBS) election night special.  This is what happens when for half your career you've tried to overcome the shadow of another late night host whose ratings are better than yours, only to be exiled to cable and promptly forgotten.
• Awards shows usually mess up the "In Memorium" segment, and this one was no exception.  Saluting those in the entertainment world who have passed on since the last awards ceremony has taken a back seat to flying images and quiet music from up and coming singers, and whose name is big enough to be introduced last.  The honor (if you can call it that) this year went to Michael K. Williams, who was nominated for an Emmy this year.  And there's also nitpicking over who didn't make the list.  Maybe you should just ditch the music, and let everybody see the ones who are off to their final reward.
• The Emmy telecast's ratings on CBS improved 16 percent over last year's, which isn't saying much since the pandemic has wrecked the appeal of awards shows (and most everything else).  The Kansas City Chiefs-Baltimore Ravens game on NBC drew over 20 million viewers.  Time to find another night for Emmy?
  

9/11+20=America's Still At War--With Itself

 On the morning of September 11, 2001, a total of four planes crash landed into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Washington and a field somewhere in western Pennsylvania with nearly 3000 dead.  That includes the hijackers and passengers of those planes, as well as those who worked inside the buildings.  Since no one had a fancy name to describe what happened that day, it became known to history as a date:  September 11 or 9/11.

In the confusion and emotion of what just happened, President George W. Bush sent troops to Afghanistan with the intention of capturing Osama bin Laden (the man held responsible for the attack), and for removing the Taliban government there.  In March 2003, Bush decided to also invade Iraq on the basis of intelligence that said the country had more "weapons of mass destruction" than its leader Saddam Hussein was letting on.

Twenty years, four presidents (two from both parties), two wars, two disputed elections, mass shootings, a deadly pandemic, protests in the streets over police brutality, and general mistrust of government and the media later, America is at peace everywhere in the world except for within its own borders. 

Iraq was left in the rearview years ago.  Afghanistan is next, following the pullout of American troops and others desperate to escape the wrath of the new Taliban government, who took advantage of President Joe Biden's deadline of August 31 to quickly take over Afghanistan without much of a fight.  What's left are the country's remaining citizens watching helplessly as life for them is forcibly set back at least a thousand years.

But man, wasn't it worth it to leave behind a no-win situation where the Americans' focus shifted from capturing and killing bin Laden (in Pakistan) to propping up a week government that resulted in thousands of American soldiers dead and apathy at home as the war dragged on?  Well, OK.  Time will tell on that one.

After America was attacked, it was widely assumed that the country would rally and come together in the spirit of patriotism.  Instead, all 9/11 ever did was to divide it.  Pick your side.  Black Lives Matter vs. the Police.  Republicans vs. Democrats.  Gun reformers vs. the NRA.  Truth vs. Alternative Facts.  CNN and MSNBC vs. Fox News.  The Big Lie vs. settled election results.  To mask or not to mask.  The COVID vaccine vs. bleach and horse medicine.  Roe v. Wade on the ropes.  Those who believe climate change is happening vs. those who think it's just weather.  And so yawn.

On September 11, 2001, the terrorists who crashed airplanes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in western Pennsylvania had no idea how successful their mission would be.  They couldn't have known that the United States would become, in two decades, a country full of divisions politically, socially, economically, and anything else you care to name.  Those who have died due to war, terrorism, crime and disease have become nothing more than collateral damage in the struggle to prove who's right.

We need to call a truce. Before another 9/11 happens.