Looking back at Jonathan Glazer’s speech

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Signatures of the letter by industry names have reportedly grown to nearly 1,000 people (and counting) zone of interest Director Jonathan Glazer’s highly controversial Oscar acceptance speech was announced at the Academy Awards on March 10, when his widely praised film won the Oscar for Best International Film and was nominated for four other categories, including Best Picture. Since winning the award, he seems to have taken on a life of his own.

In this speech, at least to many, he appeared to be comparing Israel’s war in Gaza and the deaths of thousands of Palestinians to the Nazi extermination of Jews during World War II. -It’s true that some people in the audience felt uncomfortable, and some didn’t even know how. Based on the interpretation at the time. The incident sparked an outcry from many people, including Academy members and celebrities such as Amy Pascal, Shelley Lansing, Eli Roth and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Perhaps the most offensive comment comes from the British director who, while stressing that his film is about the extreme dangers of “dehumanization” and where it leads, says that his This is when he seemed to be denouncing his own “Jewishness” by reading into the essence of his words. Say. “Now we stand here as refutations of Jewishness and the holocaust, which has been hijacked by a profession that has caused conflict for so many innocent people. …On October 7th in Israel “All the victims of this dehumanization, whether they are victims or victims of the ongoing attacks on Gaza, how do we resist?” he asked.

The architectural controversy had a negative impact on internationally acclaimed architectural achievements. zone of interest. In my review after the world premiere at Cannes in May, I wrote:zone of interest This is one of the great Holocaust-themed movies that will probably stick with you long after you’ve seen it. ” The film went on to win the festival’s Grand Jury Prize and many more awards, all leading to a win at the 96th Academy Awards. What has happened since that night, which threatens to taint the content of his film, only shows what dangers lurk on the global stage at the Oscars – though not entirely that night. As in the case here, it would look like this:

Controversy is nothing new at the Oscars, but the Academy clearly wants the focus to be on movies rather than political statements. The more frequently seen examples are usually from the documentary winners of the year. 20 days in Mariupol , the first Ukrainian film to win this award. Instead of winning an Oscar, director Mstislav Chernov passionately admitted that the film, which details Russian atrocities in the town of Mariupol early in the war, had no reason to exist. Last year’s winners in the documentary category were: Navalny It’s all about the late Russian opposition leader and where his wife used the Oscar stage to tell a global audience about his plight. “My husband is in prison just for telling the truth,” Yulia Navalnaya said. She said: “Her husband is in jail simply because he defended democracy.”

Iranian film director and two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi refused to attend the 2017 awards ceremony where his film was screened. salesman It won the Best Foreign Language Film Award at the time. The reason, as he made clear in a statement read from the podium, was the Muslim ban introduced by then-newly sworn-in President Donald Trump. Mexican star Gael García Bernal, who won Best Animated Feature at the same ceremony, also used his time on stage to criticize President Trump and his pledge to make Mexico pay for a wall. “Actors are migrant workers. We travel all over the world,” the actor said. “We have built a life indivisible. As a Mexican, as a Latin American, as a migrant worker, as a human being, I oppose any form of wall that attempts to separate us.” he said.

None of these statements provoked heated debate and were eloquently stated. But the past of the Oscars, and in the case of Glazer’s speech, is full of examples where the Academy Awards have been used, intentionally or not, to stoke fires or make political statements. Perhaps Vanessa Redgrave, who made Israel the center of her speech, comes to mind, as did Glazer, who won Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. Julia She received loud boos when she accepted the award and when she addressed protesters outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, where the ceremony was being held. She cited a “threat from a few Zionist thugs” targeting her presence at the Oscars. She added that she is a strong voice for the plight of the Palestinian people.[Their] This act is an insult to the stature of Jews around the world and to the record of their great and heroic struggle against fascism and oppression. ”

columbine bowling Documentary winner Michael Moore (pictured) strayed from the subject matter of a film about gun violence in America to pinpoint then-President George W. Bush on the Iraq war his administration launched after 9/11. . “We live in a time where there are fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president. We live in a time where there are men who send us to war for fictitious reasons. …Shame on you.” , Mr. Bush, shame on you,” he said to a mix of cheers and boos.

In 1999, a heated controversy arose over the awarding of an honorary Academy Award to two-time Oscar-winning director Elia Kazan, 89 years old, in recognition of his long career. Kazan “named names” during a hearing of the House Un-American Activities Committee investigating communist influence in Hollywood, including those who were actually blacklisted during this country’s darkest days. It was strongly opposed by many people. Some people stood and clapped that night, including Warren Beatty and Meryl Streep, but others were noticeably silent. The scars from that time nearly half a century ago still lingered at the Oscar ceremony.

Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins (pictured) went off script when presenting the Editing Awards in 1993, making irrelevant political comments about the 200 HIV-infected Haitian refugees being held at Guantanamo Bay. This infuriated Oscar producer Gil Cates. “On their behalf, and on behalf of all people living with HIV in this country, we urge government officials in Washington to recognize that HIV is not a crime and to prevent these people from entering the United States. I would like to ask that you allow this,” Sarandon said. she said. And at the same ceremony, Best Art Direction award presenter Richard Gere first turned the spotlight on China and Tibet by slamming then-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping for the “horrible human rights” situation. I decided.

At the 1975 ceremony, an anti-Vietnam War documentary was shown. hearts and mind This victory led producer Bert Schneider to use his consent to have a telegram read from the North Vietnamese delegation to the Paris peace talks thanking the American anti-war movement for all its support. This prompted conservative co-host Frank Sinatra to later issue a statement referencing the victory. “We are not responsible for political statements made on this program. We apologize. [Schneider’s speech] It had to happen,” he said. Jane Fonda, the leader of that movement, probably surprised audiences when she won her Best Actress award at the 1972 show. croute She just said: “I have so much to say, but I’m not going to say it tonight. Thank you very much.” There was an example of restraint.

However, at the 1973 awards ceremony the following year, Marlon Brando, who ultimately won the Best Actor award, said, “I have a lot to say.”godfather). He did so by sending Native American activist and actress Sasheen Littlefeather on stage in his place to deny her an Oscar for the film industry’s treatment of Native Americans.Probably so of The most famous political protest in Oscar history is still talked about and debated to this day. In 2022, just weeks before her death, the Academy Museum exhibited “An Evening with Sachen Littlefeather,” and AMPAS also formally apologized for the treatment and harassment she suffered at the time. “The abuse you suffered as a result of these comments was unwarranted and unwarranted,” then-Academy President David Rubin wrote in an apology sent to her by AMPAS.

The film academy is working to recapture the kind of large audiences that have always been associated with the Oscars since it began being televised in 1953. Recent issues such as the pandemic and Will Smith’s infamous slap have affected ratings and film reputation. Oscar Award. When I recently interviewed host Jimmy Kimmel about what he planned to do on his show this year, I asked him if he was going to avoid the political Trump jokes he does every night on his ABC talk show. “I wouldn’t completely rule it out, but it’s not necessarily what the show is about and it doesn’t mean we won’t have the opportunity to do something like that five more times a week,” he told me, adding that he’s not sure he’ll continue airing it. It’s all about the movie, he added. “So for it to be used at the Oscars, it has to be an absolutely irresistible joke.”

So when President Trump made a statement on his “Truth Social” near the end of the ceremony, specifically asking if there was a “worst host” than Kimmel, criticizing his monologue and criticizing the talent When Kimmel accused him of not having one, he couldn’t do it. resistAnd against the advice of executive producer wife Molly McNerney and others, he decided to read and react to Trump’s “review” and point it all out in front of a large Oscar-watching audience. “Thank you for watching. I’m surprised it’s still happening,” Kimmel said to the camera. “Isn’t your prison sentence over?” Whether President Trump expected it or not, that last phrase is now appearing on all sorts of products sold on the Internet. Ah, the power of Oscar.

So the Oscars are no strangers to controversy, political or otherwise. In the 2020 Best Actor Award acceptance speech, joker, Joaquin Phoenix has used this platform to speak out on a number of issues including gender equality, racism, animal rights, the environment, and more. Perhaps in concluding his speech, he stumbled over what the reality and temptation is for many of those who stand on the stage of Hollywood’s biggest theaters. night. “I think the greatest gift this event has given me, and many of us in this room, is the opportunity to use our voices for the voiceless,” he said.

Some now say they wish they had said more that night. show That in itself — do you agree or disagree with Mr. Glaser’s acceptance speech? But now, more than a week after the ceremony, they’re trying to make up for it. Say what you will about the Oscars, but history has shown us that no other entertainment program seems to have such an impact. And this year’s story is still has been written.