Playing with
Fire
The Oscars is a show that is seen
throughout the entire United States of America. It’s like the Superbowl of
movies. There are many celebrities as well as spectators that tune in to see
one of the historic events. There are various awards given to different categories.
For example, best film, best actor, best actress, and etc. The Oscars does receive
many viewers as they hope to see their favor actor/actress win awards. In the
86th Academy Awards, the movie 12
years a slave, won several Oscars. However, their spotlight was taken by
Chelsea Handler.
Chelsea Handler was given access to
the Huffington Post twitter page to give updates on the Oscars. Chelsea Handler
did a little more than just give updates, she made her opinion known. When 12 years a slave won an award, she
posted #Ugandabekiddingme. At first I did not understand what she meant by her
hashtag. But after re-reading what she wrote, everything was clearer and I was
able to comprehend what she meant. Instead of saying “you gotta be kidding me”
she wrote “Ugandabekiddingme”. First and foremost, I was surprise she made a
comment like that about the movie. Her ignorance is unmeasurable. The thought
of posting that comment on one of the major Social Medias is unexplainable. She
was simply not thinking about her actions. Chelsea Handler is a comedian who
thought that her comment was appropriate. Unfortunately, her comment made her
the spotlight of what everyone assumes to be racist. On top of that, she kept
posted #Ugandabekiddingme every time 12
years of slave won an award. Her mishaps did not take place just once, it happened
more than once which does not help her case. Critiques immediately bashed her
once she posted her comment on twitter. Twitter is used by almost everyone even
the celebrities. This is a prime example of a joke crossing the line. Like the
saying goes “it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt”. Evidently,
Chelsea Handler saw no one getting hurt and kept making her joke.
This reminded me of the book Racism Without Borders. In chapter 3,
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva mentions “They are the racist ones” (Bonilla-Silva
pg.63). In this chapter he talks about how some people say they are not being
racist. The people who are interpreting their statement in a negative way are the
ones who are being racist. Although this may be true, we cannot help but interpret
something being racist when it looks racist. Racism is a very sensitive subject
to many people. When mentioning Uganda in a movie that depicted how slaves were
being treated, that is going to stir the pot. It is neither an accident nor a comedy
when talking about racism. It is hard to understand how those who are reading
her comment be racist. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks
like a duck, it’s a duck. There is no way going around with the idea of her not
being racist. She knew exactly what she was doing and just brushed it off her
shoulder like no big deal. When they asked her about her comment, like usual
she had no comment.
Congratulations #12yearsaslave
Go to Africa or buy #ugandabekiddingme
http://amzn.to/1de1ka9
#aheadofthecurve
#Oscars
pic.twitter.com/Hu5wh7e3fm
No comments:
Post a Comment