Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Academy Awards Experiences Kanye West Moment. . . Sort of

By Douglas V. Gibbs

I am not a big fan of Hollywood, and actors tend to turn my stomach. They produce nothing but make believe, and think that they are somehow above the rest of us on the human scale. Then, just to puff their chests out a little more, they have awards shows as well, complete with red carpets and glittering images of wealth.

This is not to say that I don't enjoy a good movie every once in a while, or a small amount of television. I even consider a few (very few) actors and actresses to be fairly good at their endeavor - but most of them aren't much on the scale of being decent human beings.

To nobody's surprise, I do not watch awards shows - especially the SAG Awards, or the Oscars.

However, while thumbing through recent news, I came across an interesting story about a couple producers battling for the microphone.

The red-headed woman that brought the arrogance of the film industry into the news is being dubbed as "Lady Kanye," but her behavior wasn't regarding her belief the award went to the wrong person as was in the case of Kanye West, but to say that the acceptance speech was being given by the wrong person.

Filmmaker Roger Ross Williams was just a few seconds into his acceptance speech for Best Documentary Short, "Music By Prudence," when his red-headed fellow producer suddenly appeared next to him, pushed herself in front of the microphone, and said, "Isn't it just like a man not to let the woman talk?" Her own acceptance speech followed as Williams stood there holding his (their?) award. Shortly after, the music began to play, and the two were ushered off stage.

"Lady Kanye," specifically, was a credited producer of the film by the name of Elinor Burkett. And interestingly enough, she had a legitimate claim to a portion of the Oscar microphone.

The Academy Awards, however, due to time constraints, limited the acceptance to one person, and Williams had simply beat her out onto the stage.

And it turns out that the battle for the microphone is nothing new. Salon.com, after interviewing both parties, reports that the two filmmakers have been in a dispute about the film for over a year.

Thank God for un-puffed-up filmmakers like Jack Marino, and Tim Chey, otherwise I would write off the industry completely.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

The Story Behind the Oscar's Weird 'Lady Kanye' Moment - Yahoo Movies

The story behind Oscar's "Kanye moment" - Salon.com

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