And the Oscar goes to... -The iPINIONS Journal

I’m going to forego my customary review to focus instead on one person who made a personal/racial statement last night that transcended all of the fashion statements that are usually the subject of so much morning-after chatter.

That person is Viola Davis, and the statement she made was nothing more than wearing her hair in its natural state.

The reason this is so noteworthy is that, for as long as I can remember, I’ve been bemoaning the refusal of black women to embrace this feature of their God-given beauty. Here, for example, is how I addressed this issue just months ago in No Blacks please, we’re fashionistas, The iPINIONS Journal, June 15, 2011:

Unless non-white women stop doing all they can to make themselves look white, this racist trend will continue.

For starters, black women can stop covering up their natural hair with wigs made of white women’s hair. Indeed, why should white fashionistas hire black models to appeal to black women who just want to look white? Frankly, I find nothing more unattractive and pathetic than a black woman sporting a long, blond wig … unless it’s for Halloween.

On the other hand, if these women exhibited more pride in their ethnicity, their purchasing power would compel the arbiters and gatekeepers of fashion to feature women who look like them (even with nappy hair and dark skin) in magazines and on the runways.

So here’s to Viola for burning her wig. And I hope the fact that she was easily among the most beautiful women walking the red carpet tonight will inspire other black women to follow fashion. Of course, this does not mean that they have to sport a wild afro like the one Esperanza Spalding did as she sang the In Memoriam tribute to the movie folks who died last year….

Incidentally, I never thought Angelina Jolie was all that. But she looked a pasty, anorexic mess. And she should have felt appropriately humiliated when the guy she presented an award to proceeded to mock how foolish she looked on stage trying way too hard to strike a sexy pose, which actually made her look like a greyhound dog taking a piss. (The only thing missing when he mocked her with a similar pose was a fire hydrant.)

Also, the fact that this guy was accepting the screenplay award for George Clooney’s movie The Descendants only made his mockery more acute. Because I suspect strutting her skinny bones was just Angie’s misguided way of trying to show up Clooney’s statuesque girlfriend – who I gather is more famous for her Dancing-With-The-Stars legs than Mary Hart was for her Entertainment-Tonight legs…

Oh, one more homage to fashion: Jennifer Lopez was clearly trying to recreate the titillating buzz she created in 2000 when she wore that green, silk-chiffon Donatella Versace dress with a décolletage below her naval (eat your heart out Tim Gunn). Unfortunately, her look was almost as embarrassing as that of a 250-pound guy trying to squeeze himself into the same tuxedo he wore when he weighed 200.

That said, there is so much hype surrounding The Golden Globes and other movie-award shows these days that by the time The Oscars come around everything seems somewhat anticlimactic.

Apropos of hype:

I suppose it was too much to expect Billy Crystal to live up to it. But he had some really good moments; never mind that they were mostly in the opening pre-packaged montage featuring the likes of George Clooney and Justin Bieber. Still, there’s no denying that nobody has done a better job of hosting since the last time he did in 2004; and
Kudos to the Academy producers for diffusing all of the hype Sacha Baron Cohen created by insisting on showing up in character to shamelessly, if not rudely, promote his latest movie, The Dictator: they studiously avoided featuring him in any of their camera shots. Unfortunately, this jerk is still getting almost as much post-Oscar press – for spilling an urn of what he claims were the ashes of his deceased pal Kim Jong-il all over American Idol and E! News host Ryan Seacreast – as the women are getting for their fashions.

But if these same producers thought they were building up suspense by making us wait for over an hour before presenting the first award anyone really cared about, they were dramatically mistaken. Because this only increased frustration and boredom with the filler awards and highlighted how lame Billy’s jokes were (he was often the only one laughing at them).

And did we really need to watch stars, most of whom weren’t even nominated, going on about the first time they went to cinema…? They would do well to cut the bit pieces (although, that Cirque du Soleil bit was awesome) and condense this four-hour (main) show down to two hours.

Anyway, I published my picks – complete with pithy commentary – on Saturday. Here is how they fared with the actual winners.

And the Oscar goes to…

Actor in Leading Role: My pick was George Clooney in The Descendants.

The winner was Jean Dujardin in The Artist. This was quite an upset as because it was no small feat for this relatively unknown Frenchman to upstage both Brad Pitt and George Clooney on Hollywood’s biggest night. It is also noteworthy that he became the first Frenchman to win an Oscar in this most-prestigious category.

Actor in Supporting Role: My pick was Christopher Plummer in Beginners.

The winner was Christopher Plummer – who received a standing ovation that was truly well deserved and clearly heartfelt.

Actress in Leading Role: My pick was Viola Davis in The Help.

The winner was Meryl Streep in Iron Lady. What else can one say … except shame on this perennial nominee and now three-time winner for denying Viola her first Oscar! Of course, I can’t feel too bad for her because I’m on record declaring The Help as little more than an exploitative historical farce.

Actress in Supporting Role: My pick was Octavia Spencer in The Help.

The winner was Octavia Spencer. Though, unlike Plummer’s, I found the standing ovation she got a little patronizing. But it reinforced my view that the popularity of this film has more to do with white guilt than black talent.

Best Director: My pick was Michael Hazanavicius for The Artist.