"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
she is f--king BADASS. Love her!
ReplyDeleteWhen I heard her being bad-mouthed, it was about her unwillingness to support the film by going to festivals for *free*, meaning she assumed she'd be paid to go.
ReplyDeleteOh Puh-leeez! Every actor has a lot on their plate and can still find the time to build up the awards. Clearly that angry black woman had an axe to grind or she would not have mentioned forgoing what is popular for what is RIGHT. In addition, her pulpit rant thanking Hattie for "going through it so she did not have to" was ridiculous. She acted as if Hattie recieved a whipping rather than an award. This kind of stuff is getting old.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you cleared that up! A lot of people pegged her as arrogant to have said as much.
ReplyDeleteIt explains why she wasn't at the baftas. And yes it is a good idea not to do the promoting thing. Sometimes the pushing behind some of these awards is quite tiresome. I like the idea that she wanted the performance and the film to speak for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI find it amusing that the angriest commenter is once again....anonymous. Sounds like Armond white
Understood and I agree withe your post. What WAS rude was Monique not even mentioning her fellow actress, Sidibe, with whom she shared all her scenes- I found that mind blowing. Sidibe should have won best actress- Monique should have known she was not going to win because the writing was on the wall regarding Bullock. She should have given her props in her speech. She is a little full of herself...
ReplyDeleteIt explains why she wasn't at the baftas. And yes it is a good idea not to do the promoting thing. Sometimes the pushing behind some of these awards is quite tiresome. I like the idea that she wanted the performance and the film to speak for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI find it amusing that the angriest commenter is once again....anonymous. Sounds like Armond white
When I heard her being bad-mouthed, it was about her unwillingness to support the film by going to festivals for *free*, meaning she assumed she'd be paid to go.
ReplyDelete