Re: Oscar Thoughts
You know, last night the strangest thing happened. I was watching a political rally and an awards show broke out!!
Seriously folks, (and there should be no surprise here) I had some major issues with the awards show last night. We've covered a lot of ground on the Dixie Chick's thread about this, but after last night, I feel I must state my position, as it is more refined now.
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Voicing opinions is only exclusively for Fox News Channel newscasters and generals acquited of war crimes. We need a war on California!....How dare these damned liberals criticize politicians for political reasons for free?... How dare they find their own time to voice opinions different from the 10 news channels run by conservatives? [/quote]
Fetal,
Please list for me the 10 conservative news channels here in the US as I, the alleged conservative of this forum, have no idea what they are. I readily admit that Fox News Channel is extremely conservative - in their news broadcasts, yes, but primarily in their news shows. You cited Bill O'Reilly as the ringleader of the anti-liberals on that network, and while I will agree with you to a point on that, I have to say that I have seen BoR go after conservatives on that show with the same zeal I have seen him call liberals on BS. That having been said, I could just as easily plead the same type of case about all the liberal news networks on the air right now, CNN being one of the worst at presenting their liberal agenda. To be honest, I don't know who gives me a worse case of the hives - Rick Leventhal of Fox, Christiane Amanpour of CNN, or Peter Arnett of MSNBC. I force myself to watch all the news networks to get as many POVs as possible before drawing my own conclusions.
Celebrities have been using their status for years to promote the causes they believe in. I don't have a problem with celebrities doing that when it's on their own dime. Case in point - the ad that Martin Sheen took out denouncing the war, celebrities speaking out at rallies, or even that little hog-body Natalie Maines (or whatever her name is) as she made her statements (as distasteful as I found them) at a concert the Ditzy Chicks paid to put on, or even discussing them on polical forum shows like we see on ALL the news networks (how many celebrities did BoR have on his show when he was in L.A.? 5, and they were all anti-war - btw, Fetal, how much did they get paid by Fox for appearing on their network?). Which brings me to my point.
Before I get labelled a right-wing neo-facist again, let me say in my defense that I would be equally PO'd if some celebrity got up their and started into a pro-war/pro-Bush speech. Just as skating and politics do not mix, neither do Hollywood and politics. About using the Oscars as a "free" outlet for celebrities to climb on their political soapboxes, yes, damn right I'm mad about that. I tune into the Oscars to see who won, listen to jokes by the emcee, and do my own fashion review. I do not watch it to be politically enlightened by a bunch of actors, many of whom, IMO, have been educated far beyond their intelligence. They can bankrupt themselves putting their political agendas out (conservative or liberal), as far as I'm concerned, but please, for god's sake, could they please leave entertainment outlets alone and stop seizing any moment in the spotlight to enlighten what they perceive to be the unwashed stupid masses of mainstream America?
About Michael @#%$ - he needs to get over his serious case of sour grapes about the election in 2000. You hear me, Michael?!?! That was 3 years ago. Your party (and mine) lost. I was livid when Gore lost, but I got over it. Let it go, already, you toadstool!! His Bush-bashing only supports the case of many war-supporters that the anti-war movement is less about the war and more about the Democratic party's loss to Bush in 2000. I was thrilled to see that he got booed off the stage. His diatribe was tacky no matter which party you belong to.
On the flipside, I don't have any problem with celebrities (Adrian Brody, for example) issuing a plea for peace and a swift end to the war. I think that is what all people wish for, war-supporters and non-supporters alike. It's just how we get there where we differ.
Finally, I find it incredibly ironic and hypocritical that celebrities are zealously concerned with the moral and ethical behavior of their country, when many should be far more concerned with their own morality. Shall I list here the names of celebrities that have had run-ins with the law? Drug problems? Domestic problems? Financial problems resulting from the previous three? Perhaps if they cleaned up their own lives and started acting like REAL role models for the American and global public (especially children that look up to them), I might take their political statements more seriously. But until that happens? It's open season, as far as I'm concerned.
End of rant (for now).
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Loved his speech and I love him. What a great actor. I can't stand Renee Zellweger. Not for her singing, but for her idea of "acting" (the constipated look and weak, dollish "sexy" voice), and for her usual face expression, as someone called it: "I smell poo poo". I haven't seen Chicago yet, so I'm not talking about her role there, but of many of her roles, especially in "Jerry Maguire", and her usual behavior at awards ceremonies.
