That title does not refer to the news or anything going on in the world, at least anything going on in the world that matters. It’s about the Oscars and how awful they were. (Nailed it ahead of time.)
When I was a kid, this was appointment TV. Not because the movies were appealing to me, they’ve always nominated movies that appeal to very few people, but because “movie stars” were exciting. Exciting to watch, exciting to hear, etc. You just wanted to live the lives they seemed to be living, and they lived them unapologetically. It was appealing to a lot of people.
Now, the Oscars are miserable. Any moments designed to be fun went over like, well, moments that were designed to be fun – designed by a committee of joyless woke college students, focus-grouped to death. There was nothing enjoyable about watching.
Movies people didn’t see about “important” topics normal people don’t give a damn about. That was this year’s Oscars.
Billed as “the most diverse,” they were also the least popular. Maybe the American public doesn’t care about “celebrating diversity” any more than we care about celebrating sameness? Maybe real, normal people want to celebrate accomplishment, and after years of pledging to have a “diverse” field of nominees, people assumed the Oscars were simply checking boxes?
Maybe they were checking boxes, maybe these were the best Hollywood had to offer and the public has moved beyond Hollywood because they have nothing left to offer?
Whatever it is, it’s a shame. People need escapism, kids need something to aspire to. This year, movies offered in-depth looks into everything people want to escape from, and children a look at the annoying lies they’re preached in school by leftist teachers. Who the hell wants that?
Hollywood has gone full-circle. There was a time when they were relentlessly pro-American. They recognized that the forces of communism, fascism, and socialism smother not just freedom but creativity. Now they advocate for those things, hoping to do just that.
Freedom and creativity are the enemy of the progressive political philosophy, where conformity is required or else. As a former punk myself, I’ll never understand how Democrats managed to claim the mantle of rebellion. Maybe it’s because they talk about revolution all the time, but they only do it in the context of their ultimate goal being to impose their will on others. “Rebel against freedom” isn’t exactly going to sell a bunch of t-shirts, or at least it shouldn’t.
That’s what Hollywood is now: a conformity factory. I don’t know if the people who received Oscars deserved them this year or if they checked boxes and made the voters in the Academy feel good about themselves. Honestly, I don’t care.
This person was “the first one of this” or “the second one of that” to win is not important, but it was the selling point this year. Knowing the leftists in Hollywood value that so highly, rather than accomplishment or merit, casts a shadow over the winners and their achievement they don’t deserve. I’d be angry, if it were me.
Unfortunately, that’s what liberalism has created in this country. Now accomplishments are filled with qualifiers that cheapen them.
Guion Bluford was the first African-American in space. Why does that matter? It doesn’t, really. I’ll never go into space, neither will you, so he’s got us beat the same way everyone else who’s been to space has us beat. But every time he’s referred to he’s referred to that way, like “even a black guy can do it!” That condescending qualifier cheapens the accomplishment, in my opinion.
It persists to this day, this condescending tone from the left. Last year, Victor Glover began a six-month stay on the International Space Station, an impressive accomplishment. But because Glover is black, the headlines were along the lines of, “Victor Glover becomes 1st Black astronaut to arrive at space station for long-term stay.” The left will not allow people to celebrate the accomplishments of human beings as human beings, especially Americans as Americans. They need division.
So you end up with “this person is only the second” or “in a historic first” headlines that, in the era of “woke,” can only give the impression that their skin was a bigger factor than their talent. It’s pretty disgusting, if you really think about it.
The Woke-Oscars are over, but the woke carries on. As Hollywood continues its death-spiral, much deserved, the suicide pact between that industry and the left continues to solidify. Soon they will have quotas for cast and crew to even qualify for nomination consideration, which will only further alienate these elitist snob racists from their potential audience. So the news isn’t all bad.
Derek Hunter is the host of a free daily podcast (subscribe!), host of a daily radio show on WCBM in Maryland, and author of the book, Outrage, INC., which exposes how liberals use fear and hatred to manipulate the masses. Follow him on Twitter at @DerekAHunter.