The Academy Awards

"I would like to thank the academy for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics..."
Those were a few of the words shared by Oscar winning actress Mo'nique last night at the Academy Awards. I just have a minor contention to her claim. I feel that her victory was strictly about the politics! Come on...when is it not? I'm not at all downplaying her performance--I really feel it was spectacular but I feel that majority of the exposure that she is receiving has largely to do with the content the movie was displaying. The biggest win of the night is always the lead roles but Mo'nique managed to make all the headlines this morning?! Although very rarely does an over weight woman of colour cover the front page of the newspaper, it is unsettling to discern the real reason behind her praise.


Side Note: I wonder if her victory means she will finally have relevant guests at her late night show...lol


Another disappointment of the night was Avatar's loss to the Hurt Locker in the best motion picture category. Yet another win based on politics! Avatar has unmatched revenues in the box office--making it a historical performance, in line with Titanic! How was Hurt Locker able to triumph over this movie?!! ahhh politics....

The Blind Side

For those of you who know me, you are already aware that I am a complete movie junkie. I think I should seriously consider becoming a movie critic. Not only will I be able to view movies for free but my input will be taken into account, which I think is totally awesome considering my completely objective viewpoints :)

In any event, I watched this particular movie which happens to be based off a true story. It was just so amazing to watch. It follows the life of an African American teen who has been brought up in the ghettos but is fortunate enough to come in contact with a well off Caucasian family who takes him in as their child. It was so beautiful to watch this woman just selflessly help and provide for this strange adolescent. Generosity and altruistic acts are so rare but absolutely beautiful when demonstrated. It kind of brought tears to my eyes! but then again, I'm easily allured emotionally lol.

The Modern Racist Paradigm

This is a documentary that sheds light into the tactics of modern media in setting global standards. The media has been working endlessly at aiming to standardize Caucasians as the "social norm" by propagating recurring images depicting Caucasians in positive roles and as protagonists while usually depicting Non-Caucasians as background characters and antagonists. This causes societies to build perceptive stereotypes and ultimately causing classification and prejudice. 


I applied the insight I gained from this documentary to media today: 


The 'Precious' movie that recently came out strongly reinforces the African American stereotype. It is a movie that follows the life of a young African American female who experiences obesity, illiteracy, abuse, incest and violence. All of which help construct the current stereotype of African Americans as being lazy, immoral degenerates who live in poverty. It is no surprise that 'White' critics viewed this movie as sensible and worth the watch. The African American populous however, sees this movie as demoralizing and have a hard time connecting with it. 


Below is the first section of the documentary.