About Monique's Oscar acceptance speech...

"First I would like to thank the Academy for showing it can be about the performance and not the politics."

For those who hadn't been closely following the Oscar season, Best Supporting Actress winner Monique's speech must have seemed a little presumptuous, even combative. Since I knew what she was referring to in her opening remarks, I figured everyone else did too. But, since that's clearly not the case, allow me to take a moment to give a little background. For the record, there has been much written over the last several months over Mo’nique’s unwillingness to actively campaign for the Academy Award. Many a pundit had claimed that she didn't truly deserve the Oscar because she was unwilling to engage in the glad-handling that is often part and parcel with the awards season. She has a daily talk show to host, a successful career as a stand-up comedian, and a family to spend time with, so the idea that she didn't want to be out and about shaking hands and kissing babies is an understandable one. And that's her right to engage in the process or not. She has repeatedly said that her performance, for better or worse, speaks for itself. And she's right. While this is very rarely the case, the Oscar should be about the work, rather than the behind-the-scenes machinations that goes towards deciding the winners. And the fact that she won anyway is a wonderful thing, a sign that sometimes the work can be so overpowering that the creator of said art has nothing left to add. You want to know why Mo’nique won last night? Rent Precious. That's all you should need to do. So congrats to Mo’nique on winning despite the politics and for the incredible performance that she delivered in an awfully good movie. Oh, and great speech too...

Scott Mendelson