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KING: Chris Rock Oscars opener dropped the ball and lynching jokes went over the line no matter how tough a spot it was
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Sunday, February 28, 2016, 10:56 PM
Chris Rock Pokes Fun at Oscars During Monologue
NY Daily News
My family and I decided we weren't watching the Oscars this year. Instead we opted to support theJustice for Flint online fundraising event. Many of our favorite stars were actually there anyway.
For us, it's fundamentally outrageous that out of dozens of opportunities, not a single African American was nominated for one doggone category this year. With a voting pool that is overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly male, and overwhelmingly old, 2016 turned out to be one of the whitest years in recent history for the Academy Awards.
Our deal, in our house, was that we would just watch Chris Rock's opening monologue. Most of my friends, and thousands of black families across the country have opted to not even do that much and are boycotting the event altogether.
FULL TRANSCRIPT OF CHRIS ROCK'S OSCARS MONOLOGUE
Like we all knew he would, Chris Rock went right for the elephant in the room and tackled the whiteness of the awards, the unique brand of racism in Hollywood, and the fundamental lack of opportunities for African Americans in the industry.
Before Rock ever said a word, his walkout music, "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy, clearly announced his irreverent intentions to tackle racism.
KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES
Chris Rock went right for the elephant in the room and tackled the whiteness of the award
Indeed, he went for it straight away.
"Man, I counted at least 15 black people on that montage," Rock said, referencing the ridiculousness of the number of black folk, none of whom were actually nominated, who were nonetheless featured throughout the opening video mashup of films from the previous year.
OSCAR RATINGS DOWN TO EIGHT-YEAR LOW
He went on.
"Well, I'm here, at the Academy Awards. Also known as the White People's Choice Awards. You realize, if they nominated hosts, I wouldn't even get this job. That's right. Y'all would be watching Neil Patrick Harris right now."
VIEW GALLERYOscars 2016: Best and worst red carpet looks
At this point, my family and I were laughing hard. So was most of Black Twitter who had opted to at least watch this much of the show.
CHRIS ROCK TACKLES #OSCARSSOWHITE CONTROVERSY IN MONOLOGUE
STACEY DASH’S JOKE: ‘CLUELESS’ STAR STOPS BY OSCARS FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH
CHRIS ROCK’S BEST JOKES FROM OSCARS NIGHT
After that, while the monologue was still peppered with a few more good yucks, much of what Rock said was distasteful, uncomfortable, and just plain wrong.
VIEW GALLERYProtesters rally outside Oscars ceremony to protest #OscarsSoWhite
"Why are we protesting...the big question is, why this Oscars?" Rock asked.
As Rock attempted to answer his own questions, I kept waiting for him to say something, anything that made one bit of logical sense, but it quickly devolved into a garbled mess of illogical nonsense.
First, Rock suggested that since African Americans had been ignored for the overwhelming majority of the previous 88 Oscars, that it was somewhat peculiar to him that people chose to be upset this year. As if historical injustice should make present-day injustice somehow more palatable for us all.
STARS REACT TO CHRIS ROCK'S MONOLOGUE
At that point, Rock could've taught his white audience how we are in a new era of black activism and consciousness that doesn't really take slights and snubs with a smile anymore. He could've opined on how Black Twitter, which didn't exist for previous generations, fueled this frustration. None of that happened though.
ANDREW SAVULICH/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Black people have always protested varying forms of injustice - including that in the arts and entertainment community during the era of Jim Crow and lynching.
See, I think I put too much on Chris. I came in very much wanting him to teach his audience some lessons. He did some of that, but that's not his training.
It got worse. Way worse. Like I almost changed the channel on Chris Rock worse.
KEVIN HART GIVES SHOUT-OUT TO ACTORS OF COLOR FROM OSCARS STAGE
Continuing down the road that the Oscars have been snubbing black folk, Rock said that the only reason they didn't protest in 1962 or 1963 was because "we had real things to protest at the time."
Are you serious? The inference here, which I was heretofore reasonably confident that Rock didn't believe, is that African Americans have voiced outrage in 2016 because we don't have anything better to protest.
DAVID MCNEW/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks to a rally to protest the all-white slate of Oscar nominees and lack of diversity in the industry near the 88th Annual Academy Awards.
In fact, from coast to coast, black folk are protesting police brutality, school discrimination, mass incarceration, and so much more. When most of these films were released, in fact, black people were protesting the murders of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Walter Scott in Charleston, South Carolina, Sandra Bland in Texas, and Laquan McDonald in Chicago.
CHRIS ROCK'S DAUGHTERS AND GIRL SCOUTS RAISE $65,243 AT OSCARS
"They were too busy being raped and lynched," Rock declared.
Sadly, though, Rock is missing out on the fact that more unarmed African Americans were killed by police in 2015 than were lynched in any single year in the history of the Oscars. While it may be hard for some to think of our present day problems on that scale, these are the cold, hard facts.
In essence, Chris somehow found a way to simultaneously oversimplify what it meant to be black in the Civil Rights Movement while also drastically downplaying the size and scope of the injustice we face today.
VIEW GALLERYOscars 2016: Winners, losers and top moments
Thinking he had made a great point (he hadn't), Chris then found a way to take it somewhere even uglier.
INTERACTIVE: WHO NAILED IT AND WHO FAILED IT ON THE OSCARS RED CARPET?
"When your grandmother is swinging from a tree, it's really hard to care about best documentary foreign short," Chris said to laughter throughout the audience.
Listen, I know Chris steps on toes for a living, but I don't ever want to hear a live audience laughing about the lynching of our grandmothers. I can't imagine the deepest, darkest pain of any other group of people being used as a prime-time punchline. Not only that, but we indeed live in an era where black bodies, riddled with bullets, choked lifeless, Tasered repeatedly, are strewn all over this country from coast to coast.
CHRIS ROCK INTERVIEWS BLACK COMMUNITY IN COMPTON ABOUT OSCARS
KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES
Host Chris Rock speaks onstage during the 88th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre on February 28, 2016.
Black people have always protested varying forms of injustice - including that in the arts and entertainment community during the era of Jim Crow and lynching. Today is no different. We do not protest the outrageous whiteness of the Oscars this year because we have nothing better to do. We protest because Dr. King was right, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Whether he meant to or not, Chris Rock's monologue gave the distinct impression that black people were either petty for being frustrated with The Academy or that we live in a time without injustice, and, therefore, have too much free time on our hands.
PUBLIC ENEMY'S 'FIGHT THE POWER' BOOKENDS OSCARS
He then proceeded to roast Jada Pinkett Smith for opting not to come to the Oscars when she was primarily a television actress and wasn't quite wanted there in the first place. Again, I get it. This is what Rock does, but she was, of course, invited to the show.
FOLLOW DAILY NEWS ENTERTAINMENT: ON FACEBOOK | ON TWITTER
While Rock concluded his monologue with a smart critique of the unique brand of racism in Hollywood, in which the nicest people in the city still go out of their way to not hire African Americans, I couldn't bring myself to get over the mess in the middle.
Chris Rock had a tall order tonight. Maybe the expectations were too high. Jokes about racism to a white audience can't be easy, but I feel like he dropped the ball.
TAGS:
oscars ,
chris rock ,
racial injustice
KING: Chris Rock's Oscar opener lynching jokes went too far
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Sunday, February 28, 2016, 10:56 PM
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Chris Rock Pokes Fun at Oscars During Monologue
NY Daily News
My family and I decided we weren't watching the Oscars this year. Instead we opted to support theJustice for Flint online fundraising event. Many of our favorite stars were actually there anyway.
For us, it's fundamentally outrageous that out of dozens of opportunities, not a single African American was nominated for one doggone category this year. With a voting pool that is overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly male, and overwhelmingly old, 2016 turned out to be one of the whitest years in recent history for the Academy Awards.
Our deal, in our house, was that we would just watch Chris Rock's opening monologue. Most of my friends, and thousands of black families across the country have opted to not even do that much and are boycotting the event altogether.
FULL TRANSCRIPT OF CHRIS ROCK'S OSCARS MONOLOGUE
Like we all knew he would, Chris Rock went right for the elephant in the room and tackled the whiteness of the awards, the unique brand of racism in Hollywood, and the fundamental lack of opportunities for African Americans in the industry.
Before Rock ever said a word, his walkout music, "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy, clearly announced his irreverent intentions to tackle racism.
Chris Rock went right for the elephant in the room and tackled the whiteness of the award
Indeed, he went for it straight away.
"Man, I counted at least 15 black people on that montage," Rock said, referencing the ridiculousness of the number of black folk, none of whom were actually nominated, who were nonetheless featured throughout the opening video mashup of films from the previous year.
OSCAR RATINGS DOWN TO EIGHT-YEAR LOW
He went on.
"Well, I'm here, at the Academy Awards. Also known as the White People's Choice Awards. You realize, if they nominated hosts, I wouldn't even get this job. That's right. Y'all would be watching Neil Patrick Harris right now."
VIEW GALLERYOscars 2016: Best and worst red carpet looks
At this point, my family and I were laughing hard. So was most of Black Twitter who had opted to at least watch this much of the show.
CHRIS ROCK TACKLES #OSCARSSOWHITE CONTROVERSY IN MONOLOGUE
STACEY DASH’S JOKE: ‘CLUELESS’ STAR STOPS BY OSCARS FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH
CHRIS ROCK’S BEST JOKES FROM OSCARS NIGHT
After that, while the monologue was still peppered with a few more good yucks, much of what Rock said was distasteful, uncomfortable, and just plain wrong.
VIEW GALLERYProtesters rally outside Oscars ceremony to protest #OscarsSoWhite
"Why are we protesting...the big question is, why this Oscars?" Rock asked.
As Rock attempted to answer his own questions, I kept waiting for him to say something, anything that made one bit of logical sense, but it quickly devolved into a garbled mess of illogical nonsense.
First, Rock suggested that since African Americans had been ignored for the overwhelming majority of the previous 88 Oscars, that it was somewhat peculiar to him that people chose to be upset this year. As if historical injustice should make present-day injustice somehow more palatable for us all.
STARS REACT TO CHRIS ROCK'S MONOLOGUE
At that point, Rock could've taught his white audience how we are in a new era of black activism and consciousness that doesn't really take slights and snubs with a smile anymore. He could've opined on how Black Twitter, which didn't exist for previous generations, fueled this frustration. None of that happened though.
Black people have always protested varying forms of injustice - including that in the arts and entertainment community during the era of Jim Crow and lynching.
See, I think I put too much on Chris. I came in very much wanting him to teach his audience some lessons. He did some of that, but that's not his training.
It got worse. Way worse. Like I almost changed the channel on Chris Rock worse.
KEVIN HART GIVES SHOUT-OUT TO ACTORS OF COLOR FROM OSCARS STAGE
Continuing down the road that the Oscars have been snubbing black folk, Rock said that the only reason they didn't protest in 1962 or 1963 was because "we had real things to protest at the time."
Are you serious? The inference here, which I was heretofore reasonably confident that Rock didn't believe, is that African Americans have voiced outrage in 2016 because we don't have anything better to protest.
The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks to a rally to protest the all-white slate of Oscar nominees and lack of diversity in the industry near the 88th Annual Academy Awards.
In fact, from coast to coast, black folk are protesting police brutality, school discrimination, mass incarceration, and so much more. When most of these films were released, in fact, black people were protesting the murders of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Walter Scott in Charleston, South Carolina, Sandra Bland in Texas, and Laquan McDonald in Chicago.
CHRIS ROCK'S DAUGHTERS AND GIRL SCOUTS RAISE $65,243 AT OSCARS
"They were too busy being raped and lynched," Rock declared.
Sadly, though, Rock is missing out on the fact that more unarmed African Americans were killed by police in 2015 than were lynched in any single year in the history of the Oscars. While it may be hard for some to think of our present day problems on that scale, these are the cold, hard facts.
In essence, Chris somehow found a way to simultaneously oversimplify what it meant to be black in the Civil Rights Movement while also drastically downplaying the size and scope of the injustice we face today.
VIEW GALLERYOscars 2016: Winners, losers and top moments
Thinking he had made a great point (he hadn't), Chris then found a way to take it somewhere even uglier.
INTERACTIVE: WHO NAILED IT AND WHO FAILED IT ON THE OSCARS RED CARPET?
"When your grandmother is swinging from a tree, it's really hard to care about best documentary foreign short," Chris said to laughter throughout the audience.
Listen, I know Chris steps on toes for a living, but I don't ever want to hear a live audience laughing about the lynching of our grandmothers. I can't imagine the deepest, darkest pain of any other group of people being used as a prime-time punchline. Not only that, but we indeed live in an era where black bodies, riddled with bullets, choked lifeless, Tasered repeatedly, are strewn all over this country from coast to coast.
CHRIS ROCK INTERVIEWS BLACK COMMUNITY IN COMPTON ABOUT OSCARS
Host Chris Rock speaks onstage during the 88th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre on February 28, 2016.
Black people have always protested varying forms of injustice - including that in the arts and entertainment community during the era of Jim Crow and lynching. Today is no different. We do not protest the outrageous whiteness of the Oscars this year because we have nothing better to do. We protest because Dr. King was right, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Whether he meant to or not, Chris Rock's monologue gave the distinct impression that black people were either petty for being frustrated with The Academy or that we live in a time without injustice, and, therefore, have too much free time on our hands.
PUBLIC ENEMY'S 'FIGHT THE POWER' BOOKENDS OSCARS
He then proceeded to roast Jada Pinkett Smith for opting not to come to the Oscars when she was primarily a television actress and wasn't quite wanted there in the first place. Again, I get it. This is what Rock does, but she was, of course, invited to the show.
FOLLOW DAILY NEWS ENTERTAINMENT: ON FACEBOOK | ON TWITTER
While Rock concluded his monologue with a smart critique of the unique brand of racism in Hollywood, in which the nicest people in the city still go out of their way to not hire African Americans, I couldn't bring myself to get over the mess in the middle.
Chris Rock had a tall order tonight. Maybe the expectations were too high. Jokes about racism to a white audience can't be easy, but I feel like he dropped the ball.
TAGS:
oscars ,
chris rock ,
racial injustice
KING: Chris Rock's Oscar opener lynching jokes went too far
@ y'all who thought this Cac was black
to me
troll hacks like Shaun King
