Booing for Columbine
 It
was a strange night at the Oscars—not that the
ceremony is ever a shining example of normalcy.
Misogynist rapper Eminem won an award for "Best"
Song. A relative unknown—Adrien
Brody—beat out heavyweights Jack Nicholson,
Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine to
win Best Actor. Venerable director Martin Scorcese
was shut out yet again when convicted statutory
rapist Roman Polanski won the Best Director award
(in absentia). But strangest of all was the
anti-war, anti-Bush rant that filmmaker Michael
Moore spewed out after winning Best Documentary
Feature for his anti-gun piece "Bowling for
Columbine":
- "I've invited my fellow documentary nominees
on stage with us here in
solidarity with me because we like non-fiction,
and we live in fictitious
times. We live in a time when we have fictitious
election results that elect
fictitious presidents. We live in a time where
we have a man sending us
to war for fictitious reasons, whether it's the
fiction of duct tape, or the
fiction of orange alert—we are against this
war Mr. Bush, shame on you
Mr. Bush, shame on you. Anytime you have the
pope and the Dixie
Chicks against you, your time is up."
But it wasn't the content of Moore's tirade that
surprised me. Anti-Bush/anti-war sentiment can be
found in liberal Hollywood by the truckload. What I
found strange—and refreshing—was the
resounding chorus of boos that greeted Moore.
Certainly, a few cheers went up from the
star-studded audience, but for the most part, he
was literally booed off the stage just as he was
getting warmed up.
I'm cynical enough to believe that the boos
arose more from an offended sense of dignity at
Moore's disruption of what was otherwise a
dignified and somber ceremony, rather than from an
objection to the filmmaker's political views. The
celebrities seemed to favor toned-down, almost meek
political expressions, such as Chris Cooper's "In
light of all the troubles in this world, I wish us
all peace," and Susan Sarandon's simple flashing of
a two-finger "Peace" sign. Moore, by contrast,
rumbled across the stage like a bull in a china
shop.
Nevertheless, it was heartening to see Hollywood
stars display some propriety for a change by
expressing their disapproval. Moore is entitled to
his opinion, and while I don't agree with it, I
respect his right to voice it. But the exercise of
one's right to free speech should be tempered with
a deference to the appropriateness of the
venue.
Perhaps the American people will exercise their
freedom of choice on Moore the way they did on the
Dixie Chicks—though I would venture to guess
that few have ever heard of the documentarian
before tonight.
Development note: I've
noticed that this site doesn't look like it should
in Netscape Navigator. Rather than waste time
jury-rigging it to look right in a
soon-to-be-obsolete browser, I'll just add the
cliché "This site best viewed with Internet
Explorer."
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
|
|
What is "The Daily Strick"?
I have long called
myself a writer, but too often I don't do
what a writer must do daily: write. So
you, dear reader, are the beneficiary of
my resolution to make a positive change in
at least one area of my life. Every single
day of this new year, I will write
something, anything, and post it here. It
is my intention to use this daily exercise
to jump-start my too-long-dormant creative
energies, and perhaps generate some
worthwhile material this year. Hopefully
you will find at least an occasional
amusement or insight in my daily
musings.
Today's
Column
Send
a Comment
Previously...
3/22:
Not
Recommending Diving
3/21:
Works
in Progress
3/20:
Three
Rings of Shock & Awe
3/19:
Paris—A
Beautiful Blur
3/18:
Ignorant
Idiot Man
3/17:
The
Pirate Queen
3/16:
To
War or Not to War
3/15:
So
Long, Seau
3/14:
Telemarketing
Pays
3/13:
Free,
For Now
3/12:
Chicken
Little Gets Respect
3/11:
Axis
of Evil
3/10:
Writing
Kept Me From Writing
3/9:
King
Arthur
3/8:
The
Women are Smarter
3/7:
Salt
on Old Wounds
3/6:
3/3/03,
3:33 p.m.
3/5:
Beer
Day
3/4:
Pulling
the Trigger
3/3:
Make
'Em Laugh
3/2:
Whither
Iraq?
3/1:
Strickland
Cellars
Previous months in
The
Archive
Like what you've
read?
Find more good reading on
(and support future Daily Stricks!)
|
|
