Although millions upon millions of people will say
they actually saw what happened live and in real time, we know that the past
Academy Awards telecast was one of the lowest-rated Oscar shows ever.
What millions who didn’t watch the show—me included, I haven’t watched these shows in years—did see on replay after replay after replay was Chris Rock being assaulted by Will Smith.
Rock, one of the most popular comedians of his generation, made a joke in reference to Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her ailment, alopecia, an affliction where seemingly healthy people all of a sudden lose their hair.
The comic said something to the effect that Pinkett Smith would be in line for the next “G.I. Jane” film, with her non-existent coif like Demi Moore had in the film, and her husband--one of the most popular actors of his generation--went up to the podium and slapped Rock silly, then yelled to the comic to never say his wife’s name again.
The replay was shown ad nauseum on every show imaginable, and a lot of people thought it was a set up, even though, evidently, it wasn’t.
The Academy did not remove Smith from the audience after his act, obviously because he ended up winning an Academy Award a few minutes later.
Look, there are so many various aspects of this nonsense that one can talk about a few days after the fact, but I think the one thing that it might be good to focus on is the emergence of “trash culture” as the predominant culture that our country—and perhaps the world—follows now.
“Trash culture” has always been around, or at least it has been around since the 20th century, when the movies made people of dubious distinction famous.
It may have started with Fatty Arbuckle and his sexual peccadilloes during the silent era, or it might have continued with Charlie Chaplin’s predilection for young girls, but by the time the 1950s came, celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Elvis Presley and even Jerry Lee Lewis fostered this culture into the national consciousness.
TV just added fuel to the fire, and became the roost of a number of “trash culture” icons, including the Gabor sisters and even Ed Sullivan and the skirmishes he had with the talent on his show, such as Jackie Mason.
This continued unabated into the 1970s through the present time, with people like Richard Pryor, Pamela Anderson and right now, the Kardashians, and everyone associated with that family, providing fuel for that fire.
“Trash Culture” really is undefined, but it has to do with people who revel in excess of one kind or another, and do things that at one time were whispered about … but in today’s world, everything is out in the open and treated as real “news.”
In days past, you had various newspaper columns whose very existence was based on “trash culture,” including Earl Wilson’s rag sheet, which described in veiled references this one sleeping with that one and this actress wearing a plunging neckline to show off her ample bosom.
What millions who didn’t watch the show—me included, I haven’t watched these shows in years—did see on replay after replay after replay was Chris Rock being assaulted by Will Smith.
Rock, one of the most popular comedians of his generation, made a joke in reference to Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her ailment, alopecia, an affliction where seemingly healthy people all of a sudden lose their hair.
The comic said something to the effect that Pinkett Smith would be in line for the next “G.I. Jane” film, with her non-existent coif like Demi Moore had in the film, and her husband--one of the most popular actors of his generation--went up to the podium and slapped Rock silly, then yelled to the comic to never say his wife’s name again.
The replay was shown ad nauseum on every show imaginable, and a lot of people thought it was a set up, even though, evidently, it wasn’t.
The Academy did not remove Smith from the audience after his act, obviously because he ended up winning an Academy Award a few minutes later.
Look, there are so many various aspects of this nonsense that one can talk about a few days after the fact, but I think the one thing that it might be good to focus on is the emergence of “trash culture” as the predominant culture that our country—and perhaps the world—follows now.
“Trash culture” has always been around, or at least it has been around since the 20th century, when the movies made people of dubious distinction famous.
It may have started with Fatty Arbuckle and his sexual peccadilloes during the silent era, or it might have continued with Charlie Chaplin’s predilection for young girls, but by the time the 1950s came, celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Elvis Presley and even Jerry Lee Lewis fostered this culture into the national consciousness.
TV just added fuel to the fire, and became the roost of a number of “trash culture” icons, including the Gabor sisters and even Ed Sullivan and the skirmishes he had with the talent on his show, such as Jackie Mason.
This continued unabated into the 1970s through the present time, with people like Richard Pryor, Pamela Anderson and right now, the Kardashians, and everyone associated with that family, providing fuel for that fire.
“Trash Culture” really is undefined, but it has to do with people who revel in excess of one kind or another, and do things that at one time were whispered about … but in today’s world, everything is out in the open and treated as real “news.”
In days past, you had various newspaper columns whose very existence was based on “trash culture,” including Earl Wilson’s rag sheet, which described in veiled references this one sleeping with that one and this actress wearing a plunging neckline to show off her ample bosom.
Press agents gave their eye teeth to get one of these references in for one of their clientele, and this column was the place to go to find out about such stuff.
Today, everything is so out in the open with the Internet that Earl Wilson’s type of column is as passé as Betamax tapes are.
News is generated not just by the news services, but also by shows like “Entertainment Tonight” and “The View,” the latter being the absolute nadir of “trash culture” in our world today.
So you have Smith hitting Rock and it becomes a larger story than the war in the Ukraine and the pandemic … combined!
Every news show worth its salt covered this non-event as if the two had just landed on the moon, and some news shows even spoke to psychologists and alopecia specialists to get a different glint on what had happened.
It is simple what had happened, and it didn’t demand such news coverage as it received.
We have forgotten how to laugh at one another and our own human peccadilloes.
That is the basis of comedy, and has been since the beginning of time.
A fat woman trips on a banana peel, we laugh.
Today, such a scene would be derided by organizations representing people with weight problems.
So in the current instance, we have a comedian, perhaps pushing the envelope a bit, but still making fun of a human foible, and doing it not directly, but by using a movie reference during an Oscars telecast.
A “gallant” man wants to defend the honor of his wife, and punches the comedian.
World headlines ensue.
“Trash culture” wins out again.
And you can bet that Pinkett Smith will soon pose in a bikini to demonstrate how one can live with alopecia … it wouldn’t be the first time, you know.
Yes, we live in a very sick world, and “trash culture” pretty much adds to that sickness.
And when the Kardashians' newest series draws record ratings, you will just know that yes, we have gone off the deep end …
And done it without a life preserver.
Good luck to us all, because we definitely need it.
Today, everything is so out in the open with the Internet that Earl Wilson’s type of column is as passé as Betamax tapes are.
News is generated not just by the news services, but also by shows like “Entertainment Tonight” and “The View,” the latter being the absolute nadir of “trash culture” in our world today.
So you have Smith hitting Rock and it becomes a larger story than the war in the Ukraine and the pandemic … combined!
Every news show worth its salt covered this non-event as if the two had just landed on the moon, and some news shows even spoke to psychologists and alopecia specialists to get a different glint on what had happened.
It is simple what had happened, and it didn’t demand such news coverage as it received.
We have forgotten how to laugh at one another and our own human peccadilloes.
That is the basis of comedy, and has been since the beginning of time.
A fat woman trips on a banana peel, we laugh.
Today, such a scene would be derided by organizations representing people with weight problems.
So in the current instance, we have a comedian, perhaps pushing the envelope a bit, but still making fun of a human foible, and doing it not directly, but by using a movie reference during an Oscars telecast.
A “gallant” man wants to defend the honor of his wife, and punches the comedian.
World headlines ensue.
“Trash culture” wins out again.
And you can bet that Pinkett Smith will soon pose in a bikini to demonstrate how one can live with alopecia … it wouldn’t be the first time, you know.
Yes, we live in a very sick world, and “trash culture” pretty much adds to that sickness.
And when the Kardashians' newest series draws record ratings, you will just know that yes, we have gone off the deep end …
And done it without a life preserver.
Good luck to us all, because we definitely need it.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.