And the Oscar Goes to... Hell

And the Oscar Goes to... Hell

So, I have waited, and tried to communicate this privately, but then I started getting forwarded emails from the Academy of rave reviews of last weekend's disturbing Oscar show. Interesting that they didn't forward any of the numerous negative reviews, such as in The New Yorker and Vanity Fair.

I knew who Seth MacFarlane was. My teenage son is a big fan. I knew what to expect. I have been the butt of his humor. I have survived his cruel, cheap jokes.

I was offended last week. As an Academy member, as the child of former Academy members and as a woman, I expected more from the best that the movie business has to offer. The Oscars are about honoring art and artists. It is not supposed to be a cheesy vaudeville show.

The "boob" song, as it will be known in perpetuity, may go down as the highest-rated Oscar number in history, but at what cost? I'm sure public executions would get big ratings too, but is that what the Oscars are truly about? Ratings? When did they turn into a "roast"? At least at a roast you know what's in store. What if actors and actresses stopped attending the Oscars because it was deemed open session to ridicule and parody them? Would the Academy be so cavalier then?

I am an actress who has bared her breasts in films to satisfy the requirement of the role I was asked to do -- lucky to do, for in my case, those films were significant in my career. I didn't like doing it. I didn't ask if I could do them topless. I did what was asked of me for the part I was playing. Mostly asked by men.

I know many may snicker at the now-aging, adult, almost grandma-like woman I am today, looking back and decrying my youthful exploitation, and say it's hard for me to cry foul when my body was my stock and trade.

I recently saw On The Waterfront where Terry Malloy, whose stock and trade was violence, made the right choice and informed on the Mob.

I was offended by the Oscar show.

I am sorry that this is what we are talking about and not Argo's lovely win or Jennifer's amazing performance or Daniel's eloquence and humor and grace or the fallout from the sequester.

What we will be talking about is Seth's lack of class and a 14-year-old boy's derogatory word for one of the most beautiful, motherly and literally nurturing parts of the female form.

I dreamed a dream, too:

"There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong"

And the Oscar goes to?

By: Jamie Lee Curtis.
Actress and children's book author



Dont blame men for bearing your breasts. Blame yourself. You did it. And if you did it, why shouldnt others do other crude displays? Perhaps this sort of behaviour from people like you is why many have become desensitized to crude behaviour in the media and why people act the way Seth does. And why he's among the highest paid people in Hollywood. And why his tv shows are are filled with filth.
The produceers knew what Seth McFarland was all about when they hired him. What did you expect?

I stopped watching the Oscars years ago.