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Oscar Glamorizes Jihad James Hirsen
THE LEFT COAST REPORT
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories): 1. 'Crash' vs. 'Brokeback Mountain' They're afraid to say it publicly but many Oscar voters are unhappy with the buzz over "Brokeback." The beneficiary of the quiet backlash appears to be another less discussed movie, "Crash." "Crash" ought to win. It's the best of the nominees because of its originality and candid approach to the subject of race.
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But "Brokeback" is getting all the press and has won the most pre-Oscar awards including all of the major categories in the British version of the Academy Awards, the BAFTAs. The tedious "The Constant Gardener" was another BAFTA fave with 10 nominations but "Brokeback" won for director, screenplay, best supporting actor and best movie. The Left Coast Report thinks Hollywood is likely to follow suit. Why? Because of the lemming-like inclination to go with the trend, which will probably provide "Brokeback" with an undeserved statuette.
2. The Accidental Racist The most interesting character in the movie "Crash" is a jaded police officer played by Matt Dillon. The officer displays both the worst of racism and the best of heroism when he saves the life of an African-American woman whom he had previously publicly degraded. Dillon commented to The Associated Press that his character "felt accurate" to him. About the character's profession, Dillon said, "I'm not a cop but, in the few experiences I've had with the LAPD, these kind of aggressive police tactics were something that I recognized. So that didn't bother me so much." The police officer Dillon plays is a loving son who is trying to get medical attention for his gravely ill father. The actor found the complexity of the character to be engaging. "I had to find the humanity in the guy," Dillon explained. Dillon did, which is one of the reasons why "Crash" just may be the upset pick of the Oscars.
3. The Incredible Shrinking Oscars TV execs are biting their fingernails over the upcoming Oscar telecast. Things are looking kind of bleak. Of the five nominees for Best Picture, there are no box-office standouts. In fact, when you add up the audiences for these nominees they don't even measure up to the amount of folks who went to see one single movie, "The Chronicles of Narnia." Many of the films with nominations in major categories have very few people who have actually seen them. Those who do watch the telecast may be scratching their heads over flicks like "Junebug" and "Transamerica." Only two name stars have been nominated in the major categories, George Clooney ("Syriana") and Reese Witherspoon ("Walk the Line"). The master of ceremonies, Jon Stewart, hosts a television show that averages less than half of the audience that Bill O'Reilly commands each night. If the overt political content is not enough to turn off middle America, one of the nominees for Best Song is from the film "Hustle and Flow." The Left Coast Report passes on that the tune will be performed live by the group Three 6 Mafia. Its title? "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp."
4. King Kong in Drag Disturbs Academy The Academy this year has been politically correct to a tee. However, currently staring down at the Kodak Theater is the image of King Kong, a giant ape wearing makeup and a dress while holding an Oscar statuette. Is it a commentary on the gay-themed Oscars? Nope, it's a billboard created and funded by 13 women's organizations including Women in Film and the Fund for Women Artists. The organizations refer to their movement as the "Guerrilla Girls."
The sign has messages that read "Unchain the Women Directors. Women directed only 7 percent of the top 200 films of 2005" and "No woman director has ever won the Oscar. Only three have been nominated." Ang Lee might get an idea for a new film.
5. Oscar Glamorizes Jihad The biggest outrage of this year's Oscars has nothing to do with gay cowboys. It has to do with terrorists. The film "Syriana" portrays suicide bombers as noble, but the George Clooney flick doesn't come close to the propaganda piece that the Academy has nominated for Best Foreign Feature. It's called "Paradise Now."
"Paradise Now" is supposed to be from the foreign nation of Palestine. Apparently, the Academy needs to read a newspaper or maybe a geography book. While it's at it, it might think about revoking this nomination. Yossi Zur thinks it should. His 16-year-old son was struck down by a suicide bomber. Zur has inspired an Internet campaign against the nomination by penning an open letter asking that the Academy disqualify "Paradise Now" now. "What exactly makes 'Paradise Now' worthy of such a prestigious nomination? At a time when Hamas, a terrorist organization devoted to the destruction of Israel, has won a landslide victory in the Palestinian legislative elections, and Iran's president has stated his desire to 'wipe Israel off the map,' what sort of message would an Academy Award triumph send to more than 1 billion viewers around the world?" Zur wrote. As of this writing the petition has over 28,000 signatures, and the count continues to rise as Oscar night approaches. In the film, the suicide bomber is depicted as a heroic leading man. Just what America needs, a movie that glamorizes jihad. The Academy gave five nominations to the morally contorted "Munich" and a couple of nominations to the terrorist sympathizing "Syriana." "Paradise Now" has already won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. The Left Coast Report notes that in a year where box office receipts have dropped precipitously, Hollywood seems determined to stay the self-destructive course. Editor's Notes:
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