4/25
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| Morningside Park |
On the one hand, this may have been the least watched and least entertaining Academy Awards ever. In a truly inscrutable programming decision, especially given a predicted low viewer interest and number of people who simply didn’t see the films, it was decided to forego most of the award clips that would have at least given people a taste of what they had missed and possibly inspire later watching. Instead we were treated to “stories” about how nominees discovered the movies and interminable acceptance speeches. It was like a televised podcast.
On the other had , this was probably the most socially conscious Oscars yet in terms of diversity of nominees and presenters, commentary on our social context and most importantly the content of the films. #Oscarssowhite no more. One could easily put together several discussion/ reflection groups on the days’ vital issues from these films.
In a year in which George Floyd’s murder was there for all to see (perhaps that was the most important video of the year) and so many more, and Black Lives Matter and systemic racism rose to national awareness, there’s more than enough films for a series.
Judas and the Black Messiah reminded us of the FBI orchestrated murder of rising organizer Fred Hamprton of the Black Panthers who at age 21 managed to pull together gang leaders, Latinos and Appalachian whites into a multiethnic force for change. That is ultimately made him dangerous
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom based in August Wilson’s play, showed clearly the theft of black creativity and music by the white corporate music establishment and wha that dod to Back artists. The US vs. Billie Holiday revealed obsession with and unchecked pursuit of Ms. Holiday, again by the FBI, for her song Strange Fruit, about lynching. And what her concern for racial justice would cost her.
Short film “Two Distant Strangers brought a young Black man caught in a groundhog day - like loop being killed by the dome white cop every day. (Also caught in the same ,loop.) That film ended with a scrolling of all the recent Black lives lost to police violence, too many to remember. Say their names…
“One night in Miami” brings us Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke and Malcolm X on the night of All’s accent to Heavyweight boxing champ debating the best means towards achieving justice for Black Americans, Of course Ali would have his title stripped and profession then away for five years and Malcom X would have his lifer take away by the same forces that would later remove Fred Hampton.
From the same era, we find the Trial of the Chicago 7 which showed what happened to white activists who were against the Vietnam War. The film also shows Panther leader Bobby Seale bound and gagged in the court room. Though after the events of the film, Yippie leader Abbie Hoffman word ultimately take his own life.
If you consider these films, (along with MLK/FBI), it becomes clear that our own country, no less than any totalitarian country, treats any dissent that threatens to be effective as not tolerable and potentially a capital offense. We need to seriously reflect on that reality and any young person involved in “revolution” needs to know this history,
Other issues are wrestled with as well. For example:
Short film animated film winner, If Anything Happens I Love You, our pandemic of gun. violence. Even during Oscar week, too many mass shootings to keep track of.
Shirt live action film the Present, where we see the ongoing humiliation and harassment that is the daily experience of Palestinians at the hands of Israelis
White Eye, the plight of African immigrants in Israel
Don’t Split takes us inside the movement for democracy in Hong Kong.
Colette is a retrospective look at the Holocaust and international film Quo Vadis Aida? the Balkan genocide at Srebinica.
A Promising Young Woman is a very clever and exceptionally written Me Too era revenge fantasy against white male priviilege.
Hillbilly Elegy the impact of opioid addiction on poor white America and even best film winner Nomadland if you look closely enough deals with the disintegration and dispossession or working class America.
No Oscars in my memory have had such a wide range of issues portrayed dramatically and that could be used by churchman and other study or discussion groups.
Cynics snark about the “woke” Oscars. Friends complain about the general darkness of films. But what we’re seeing is like what we saw in of the films of the mid seventies reflecting the global upheavals of the late sixties that lasted until American Graffitti ushers in a good times’ era of backlash.
Our films, no less than newspapers, social media and other popular cuilure reflect our times. Impending environmental catastrophe with ever more violent and catastrophic weather events , the rise of authoritarian governments across the world and the radical impact of Trump on the culture and governance of the United States, and now near apocalyptic global pandemic mark us and affect our collective psyche. Our films are yet one more text worthy of study and reflection and can be a value resource for developing our strategies of resistance.
How we respond will define who we are and what our future will be.
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