It’s hard to forget how Hollywood’s brightest stars did more than applaud Roman Polanski when he won the Best Director Oscar in 2003 for “The Pianist.”
Not all subjects bring the Hollywood elite to their feet, though. We learned that recently during Sunday’s Oscars telecast, the lowest rated event in Academy Award history.
Host Jimmy Kimmel drew the expected chuckles and cheers from the crowd throughout the night as he saluted the #MeToo movement and dubbed President Donald Trump a racist. Just like last year.
One part of the ceremony drew a different, more tepid response. Veteran actor Wes Studi, who starred in the powerful Western “Hostiles,” took the stage mid-show to salute the men and women of the U.S. military. Studi shared how he served his country during the Vietnam War, and then asked the crowd if anyone in the theater could say something similar.
Awkward titters commenced.
Studi then introduced a video clip montage of American war films, a tribute to the real soldiers who have fought and died for our nation. The audience applauded on cue, but hardly with the kind of enthusiasm some might expect. Cameras panned the crowd, catching director Christopher Nolan, among others, clapping robotically with little to no passion.
Compare that to the Polanski reception 15 years ago.
Quite a difference.
Enter Kayleigh McEnany. The RNC spokeswoman addressed the matter on Fox News this week.
Hollywood could barely applaud. You could picture someone in the audience with a cue card saying now, you’re supposed to clap. They did so so hesitantly. This shows Hollywood is divorced from the heartland and why the Oscars got the lowest ratings in history and others. These elites, they dress up and give each other awards and they can’t even stand for the men and women that fought and gave them that opportunity.
Left unspoken? The same crowd’s reaction, or lack thereof, to Gary Oldman’s speech accepting the Best Actor Oscar for “Darkest Hour.”
https://youtu.be/vSpR-oBx7h8
I’ve lived in America for the longest time, and I am deeply grateful to her for the loves and the friendships I have made, and the many wonderful gifts it has given me … my hope, my livelihood, my family and now Oscar.
It proved a rare moment at an Oscars ceremony, a chance to honor America and all that it gives its citizens. Oldman spoke in a way that allowed for the audience to step in and cheer. Or clap. Or make some collective sound.
Instead, nothing.
There was a smattering of applause after Oldman thanked Kazuhiro Tsuji, the makeup maestro who transformed him into Winston Churchill for the film.
Nothing else, though. Those who actually watched the ceremony likely noticed that, too.
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