Why no protests decades before, he asked? No one knows this better than Leonardo DiCaprio, who took home the Oscar for best actor on Sunday after a wait that has lasted his whole career.
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That’s amusing – well, sharp amusing.
The host didn’t waste any time before diving into the highly talked about diversity issue with the nominations this year, and in turn, slammed Jada Pinkett Smith and her hubby for their stance on the matter.
“He’s got to answer, where’s he going to put his second Oscar?”.
But he didn’t stop there, nor should he have. Is it burning-cross racist? “No. It’s a different kind of racist”, Rock said Sunday.
“They don’t hire black people … and they’re the nicest white people ever”. His opening monologue will go down as one of the smartest monologues in Oscars history, as he took direct aim at Hollywood – calling the town and the institution racist. The comedian poked fun at Hollywood’s “sorority” racism, claiming that all black actors want are the “same opportunities”. It’s like, “We like you Rhonda, but you’re not a Kappa”.
“It’s not about boycotting anything”. Robert De Niro never said, ‘I better slow this acting down so Meryl Streep can catch up.’ No. Not at all man. If you want black people every year at the Oscars just have black categories, like ‘best black friend.’ And the victor, for the 18th year in a row, is Wanda Sykes. I’m sure there were years in the ’50s and ’60s where black people didn’t get nominated.
“The Revenant” led in Oscar nominations this year with 12. And in other moments. Some people call it “Creed.’ I call it ‘Black Rocky.’ And that’s a big, that’s an unbelievable statement”.
I thought about quitting. It wasn’t just the whiteness of the awards that Rock perfectly skewered (and 2005 was a far better year for diverse nominees than 2016) – it was their cultural irrelevance. He was trying to deal with a real issue that he acknowledged was complicated.
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But the white producers, directors, casting agents and writers in the Hollywood and Highland Center auditorium audience last night, who laughed with awkward enthusiasm at Chris Rock’s punchlines need to also be called out and held accountable in the same way as the Academy.
