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I haven't seen Monster's Ball and so couldn't say whether that is an issue in this film, but it still seems strange that when she wins the Oscar the one thing she emphasises is that it is a victory for 'women of colour', rather than for the performance of a good actress in, by all accounts, a very good film. Her mother, by the way, is English (from Liverpool): despite the fact that UK coverage of the Oscars invariably takes the form of 'How well have the Brits done?' no-one has mentioned the fact that a British-born actress (though admittedly, one who moved to the US as a young child) has won one of the main Oscars.

I can only conclude that to celebrate this aspect of her cultural background would be deemed politically incorrect in the context of this year's event...

I wonder if the speeches are vetted beforehand?

What did bother me is that Whoopi Goldberg followed all that class with a tasteless reminder of black stereotypes... the kind we are trying to grow beyond as a culture, I would suppose.

Dignity? Although I agree with you on SP and DW, Halle Berry was about the most undignified and pathetic, most graceless display I've ever seen on the stage. In fact I was so put off (after what seemed like hours of her contorted face on the screen) I had to leave the room
And... I think it was obvious backlash against Russell Crowe for his antics at previous awards that got DW the oscar. DW's a good actor and probably deserves an Oscar, but not for that film. This was a night of pure politics. What's new

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The race issues are much more complex than the discussion here, and I can't even begin to get into everything, nor do I consider myself an expert or an authority. However, those of you that are throwing around terms like "affirmative action" and "pc" are not looking at the whole picture. I agree, to a degree, that labels of race and heritage should be thrown away in a "perfect world." However, ours is not a perfect world, and the reality is that those with darker skin ARE discriminated against. Whether Halle Berry has a white mom and a black dad and an English lineage does not matter; many simply see her as black. It's a really complex issue and I can't even get my brain around all of the factors involved.

It was a big moment for her, and I can understand all of her emotion, but it was difficult to watch. She cried uncontrollably for what seemed to be 10 minutes and then thanked everyone involved in her life and career, including her lawyers?!? Come on. All of the ass-kissing is nauseating. "I would like to thank the academy..."

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On the subject of Halle Berry. Her performance in Monsters Ball is simply outstanding. She was the longshot, NOT because there were better performances, BUT because she was black. In my opinion there was no other reason for her bieng a longshot. SO WHAT if she staked a claim for all black women to come. SO WHAT?? It's her damn right to, she won the award and can say any damn thing she wants to! Did anyone freak out on Sally Fields acceptance speech.."You like me, you really really like me!". No. In fact everyone applauded it. We found it cute. I personally find it bigotous to complain about a black person staking a claim for black people. How white can you get?

As for denzel, I was pulling for him. I saw every film nominated, and felt that his performance was the most deserving. Yes russel crowe was fantastic in A Beautiful Mind, but there are at least a hundred well known actors that would have been able to pull off the same fantastic performance. For russell crowe, it was not a great feat, but his same fantastic average performance. His problem, is that most of his performances are fantastic. He needs a few average ones for a few years and then a great one. Denzel's performance was over the top, and I truly felt like I was watching the character, and not Denzel. With Russell, I felt I was watching Russell.

As for bieng PC, or Affirmative action, I highly doubt that. Somehow I don't think that all the voters were told who to vote for. I don't even think they were hinted at who to vote for. There are more than a panel of nine, a jury of 12, or some guy in a seat, deciding these things. Thousands vote, one wins. It's all about campaigning, just like running for an election. I have won elections, I have lost elections, and I never one just because I am an Italian American, I won because I paid the most money!! I lost the other ones because I failed to spend any!!

I viewed this Oscars as a great one. No one cleaned house, and every film did well.

Oh and back on Denzels award, remember that he won for his PERFORMANCE, not for the film. A great performance does not necessarily denote even a good film, and a great film does not mean that anyone had a really great performance. Sometimes films win because of the ensemble of crew/cast, sometimes an actor wins because he just really feels the part.

quote:

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Titanic was very popular and a success, and it swept the oscars.

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Halle Berry showed no dignity in her speech. Certainly she has
would be excited, I know I would be thrilled, but she behaved like a child (much like Julia Roberts' rude behaviour last year. By contrast
Messrs Poitier and Washington were the epitome of class and dignity.

That being said I don't know how I or any of us would act in that situation. Regardles of how they behaved on the stage they deserved their awards.

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Greg Mueller
Amateur Astronomer, Machinist, Filmnut http://www.muellersatomics.com/

Everything is clique-ish, from the academy to the grocery store to this web site! Everyone has an agenda, from those with the most vocal agenda to those with the soft spoken anti-agenda agenda.

I have my job as a stage manager not because I have any real training or any background in theater, but because I networked my agenda to all the right people. Yes I know what I am doing, and I do very very well at it, but I did not apply for the job, nor did I have to compete with anyone. My agenda is to eventually write, direct and produce. As with film or theater, 99.99999999997 percent of the time, the most qualified person never gets in through the front door. No one ever does.

Its all who you know. So I am quite awake, very aware, and just really dont care all that much. I learned a very long ago, back in january, that kissing anyones ass does nothing but stroke egos, and never gets you where you want to be. But it does get you paid from time to time.