The whole thing was so weird and random. By the time I'd figured out that yes, that WAS Billy Crystal in blackface, I was almost too confused to be offended. I just have no idea what any of it added to the scene, or what the joke was supposed to be. (Like, was Justin Bieber originally supposed to be played by Eddie Murphy or something? I DON'T GET IT.)
I thought the "Our next movie is Gone With The Wind" / "Will there be monkeys in it?" exchange was much worse, in light of coming about three seconds after The Help won an Oscar.
On the whole, not a great night for avoiding racism on tv.
In totally unrelated news, I just ate some really spicy Thai noodles for lunch and this is the first time all day I haven't been freezing to my bones. Maybe I can get my doctor to write me a prescription.
I saw reports about the school shooting earlier. The Guardian, a UK paper, had an article up about it an hour before any of the US papers I follow (NY Times, etc.). I'm sorry your parents are so close to it, Kat.
I was hit by the insomnia fairy last night. Today is full of vital people being elsewhere and things not working. And I have a grease spot on my sweater than I didn't notice before leaving the office. All your minor Monday hassles are belong to us. Well, ok, some of them. Enough of them to be going on with.
Oh Kat, how awful.
Didn't watch the Oscars -- I watched last year for the first time in ages and was actually surprised at how boring it was -- but I'm glad that
The Artist
won so many awards! Not that I've seen it yet, but I want to.
Another long bout of insomnia last night. I am really looking forward to being able to sleep on my back again, though I realize I have many sleepless nights to look forward to for other reasons.
Didn't Billy Crystal used to play Sammy Davis Jr on SNL?
Not that it makes last night any less offensive, in any case--I just seem to remember it.
Calm~ma for Kat's family.
How much of the Oscar's audience would even know who Sammy Davis Jr. is? Heck, I only know he is/was an entertainer of some sort. I have no idea what he actually did. Maybe the Oscar's viewership skews older though.
Those were some of the things that left me baffled about the Oscar intro. It was at the intellectual level of fart jokes.
Based on my highly-un-scientific sample Crystal's hosting played well to Middle America, particularly the over-50 crowd.
Didn't Billy Crystal used to play Sammy Davis Jr on SNL? Not that it makes last night any less offensive, in any case--I just seem to remember it.
Yeah, he played Sammy and Joe Piscipo played Frank Sinatra. I was trying to remember what his make-up was like then.
