LGBT POV

For me, the biggest moment of Sunday night’s Academy Awards show at the Kodak Theater was when Barbra Streisand handed the Best Director Oscar to “Hurt Locker” director Kathryn Bigelow.  Not only was it history-making – there have only been three female Best Director nominees in the award show’s 82 years – but it was the passing of that naked gold man “torch” that some once thought might have gone to Streisand.

As a young teenager, I had seen Streisand in her star-making role on Broadway in “Funny Girl” and I appreciated her as the not-so-pretty girl who became a funny star. As an anti-war activist in 1973, I was transfixed by “The Way We Were” as a parable about what could become of us if we give up our authenticity. Streisand played the smart grassroots activist who at first surrendered to her “man” – Robert Redford – but in the end stayed true to herself when he became corrupted by the call of Hollywood.

So when I arrive in West Hollywood and discovered I lived just down the block from the Director’s Guild on Sunset Boulevard, I was particularly intrigued by the fracas in 1984 over the sexist Academy not nominating Streisand for her feminist “Yentl” – in which she played a woman pretending to be a man so she could pursue a religious education. She won a Golden Globe for directing.

Sunday night, Streisand and Bigelow’s hug spanned 82 years of Oscar history. Openly gay show producer Adam Shankman was brilliant in anticipating this historic pairing. It was the female equivalent of David landing that sling-shot propelled rock right in the center of Goliath’s forehead: the indy film “Hurt Locker” has only made $16 million at the box office compared to Bigelow’s ex-husband James Cameron’s ingenious and expensive “Avatar” – the most popular movie in history.

The other most powerful moment of the night for me was when Mo’Nique won Best Supporting Actress for her stunning portrayal of an incredibly self-centered, cruel child abuser – who herself is desperate for love – in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.”

According to a New York Times blogger backstage, Mo’Nique said her gratitude to Hattie McDaniel -  the first African-American actress to win an Oscar for her role in the 1939 classic “Gone With the Wind” – went beyond the “thank you” in her speech. Mo’Nique said her bluish-purple color dress and the gardenia in her hair were similar to what McDaniel wore when she won her Oscar.  There is something so movingly spiritual about acknowledging the debt to those who’ve gone before you. And Mo’Nique had one of the best lines of the night, thanking her husband for his support saying, “Sometimes you have to forego what’s popular in order to do what’s right.”

Many years ago, when Variety managing editor Ted Johnson and I were on the board of the Los Angeles Press Club – I produced and Ted wrote the Press Club’s awards show – and we invited Mo’Nique to be a presenter.  We knew her primarily as the risqué comedienne from “Showtime at the Apollo” and “Def Comedy Jam” – who told it like it was and didn’t brook any bullshit from the guys. We found her great to work with and refreshingly honest in a town that too often seems built on facile fiction.  She seems to have turned that honesty into a source of strength.

But I was surprised that the only sort of political moment of the night came when “Hurt Locker” producer/writer Mark Boal won for Best Original Screenplay and actually mentioned the war that serves as the backdrop for his addiction-to-war bomb drama:

“I would also like to thank and dedicate this to the troops, the 115,000 who are still in Iraq, the 120,000 in Afghanistan and the more than 30,000 wounded and 4,000 who have not made it home.”

Boal is facing a defamation lawsuit over the film. Master Sergeant Jeffrey S. Sarver, 38, says the film was based on his experiences defusing bombs in Iraq. Apparently “Hurt Locker” is based on a 2005 article written by Boal for Playboy magazine entitled “The Man in the Bomb Suit” for which Sarver was the subject. In 2004, Boal was an embedded reporter with Sarver’s squad. Boal and Summit Entertainment says the film is a “fictional account” about soldiers in the battlefield.

Ted Johnson also noticed the apolitical nature of the awards show, too, on his blog wilshireandwashington.com:

“This seemed to be the year where the winners, “Hurt Locker” included, kept their mouths shut.

There was no Sean Penn speech on civil rights, or quips about Sarah Palin or even references to President Obama. Even Mo’Nique’s reference to the politics surrounding “Precious” was very fleeting: You’d have to be a pretty close awards season observer to even know that there has been a flap about the movie’s portrayal of African Americans in the slums. The biggest immediate controversy had Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and New York Gov. David Patterson chiming in: Disney’s decision to pull ABC and its cable channels from Cablevision systems in New York, leaving many Oscar-less until an agreement was finally reached during the early part of the ceremony.

When “The Cove,” the most blatant piece of advocacy, won the documentary award, the filmmakers were so crunched for time that one held up a placard, instructing viewers where they could turn to to take more action to end the dolphin slaughter. But it was just a glimpse, as the cameras quickly flashed to Daniel Ellsberg, the subject of a documentary that didn’t win. It may have been the first time anyone has turned to Ellsberg to avoid getting a point of view.

[UPDATE: I MISSED THE DOPHIN TEXT INCIDENT LAST NIGHT. BUT MSNBC DID A STORY THAT INCLUDED IT. HERE'S WHAT THE SIGN SAID: "Text DOLPHIN 4414"]

This is just astounding to me. It’s as if the producers still feared that the McCarthy arm of the Bush Administration would come knocking. But look what the big night was celebrating: “Avatar” is about the environment and saving the planet; “District 9” is about racism and apartheid; “Precious” is about surviving child abuse and bullying; “The Blind Side” is the real-life story about homeless foster kids who’ve aged out of the system and what defines a family. And then there’s that extraordinary ode to revisionist history where the Jews beat Hitler in “Inglourious Basterds.” And ironically, George Clooney in “Up in the Air” – the guy whose job it is to fire people from their jobs – is the Robert Redford role from 1973.

There were some delightful moments throughout the three and a half hour show – Neil Patrick Harris’ opening number; watching Oprah Winfrey praise Gabourey Sidibe; Colin Farrell teasing “Hurt Locker” best actor nominee Jeremy Renner about how they once shared a bed together – but lest any rumors start – “it was only spooning;” Geoffrey Fletcher winning for best adapted screenplay for “Precious” when he wasn’t even invited to the Golden Globes. “This is for everybody who works on a dream every day,” he said.

And of course, Sandra Bullock’s funny, moving  acceptance speech where continued the on-going “flirtation” with fellow best actress nominee Meryl Streep – calling her a “good kisser:”

“Not enough time, so I would like to thank what this film is about for me which are the moms that take care of the babies and the children no matter where they come from. Those moms and parents never get thanked. I, in particular, failed to thank one. So… if I can take this moment to thank Helga B. for not letting me ride in cars with boys until I was 18 because she was right. I would’ve done what she said I was gonna do. For making me practice every day when I got home. Piano, ballet, whatever it is I wanted to be. She said to be an artist, you had to practice every day, and for reminding her daughters that there’s no race, no religion, no class system, no color, nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else. We are all deserving of love. So, to that trailblazer, who allowed me to have that. And this. And this. I thank you so much for this opportunity that I share with these extraordinary women and my lover Meryl Streep. Thank you.”

But otherwise, frankly,  apart from these moments – this was the same old Academy Awards show. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin could have been daring – but instead, well here’s one of their best “jokes” in their opening banter: Martin: “Oh look, there’s that damn Helen Mirren.” Baldwin: “That’s Dame Helen Mirren.”

And all that talk about bringing in a youthful audience by using the vampire kid Taylor Lautner, Zac Efron and Miley Cyrus – among other starlets – for what? They wound up looking like kids playing dress up. There was nothing new, fresh, edgy or relevant.

And there should have been.

Here’s an interesting conversation from the “Today Show” with some “male bonding” comments toward the end:

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