Perhaps, you noticed it too, when you were chomping down on a tasty snack at home as you caught the 82nd Annual Oscar Cermonies on the old boob tube.
Whenever an African-American actor nabbed a coveted gold statue on Sunday night, cameramen on duty at the live broadcast, would swing into frenzied action in search of a "Black face" for a reaction shot at the Kodak Theatre.
The motley TMZ crew (with a nod of approval from host Harvey Levin) - and even TV hot-shot George Lopez - had a field day with that one last night on their respective shows in the wake of the fiasco.
"They even zoomed in on Samuel L. Jackson when the winner for best supporting actress was called out. And, he wasn't even in 'Precious'," they chortled.
In fact, one gossip-monger joked that they must have been running out of African-American faces to feature.
"Gosh, they kept broadcasting close-ups of Jackson, so desperate were they."
"Oh, he looked so amused.
"Not another shot of me", he seemed to be lamenting with a slight sneer on his face," another quipped as he let out a load guffaw.
So, if you were a black performer in the A-list circle up front, 'ya got a lot of kissy-face-time with American viewers and foreigners around the tuned-in planet.
Talk about photo ops!
I have a suggestion for the Academy of Motion Pictures!
Next year - to ensure the camera-men don't come up empty-handed (and God forbid, are forced to take a shot of a Latino or a White person) - maybe they should have some stock footage ready of Sidney Poitier with a caption below noting that he was the first African-American male to win an Oscar.
Or, be at-the-ready to broadcast a dusty old photograph of Hattie McDaniel, with a poignant voice-over tribute (thanking her for paving the way for black folks come Oscar-time).
A bit of history to the mix might add a bit of perspective (and class) to the ceremonies, don't 'ya think?
'Til next year!
No comments:
Post a Comment