(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . About Last Night... [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-03-13 Not so Crazy I am generally not a fan of self-congratulatory affairs like the Oscars, Emmy(s), etc. I saw the famed slap last year and Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, who took us to La La Land instead of basking in the Moonlight in 2017. I was drawn to the Oscars last night in anticipation of what I thought would give America a well-needed sense of redemption. I have been a fan of the James Bond series since Sean Connery said, “Bond, James Bond.” Admittedly I have thought every Bond paled in comparison to Mr. Connery, but I have continued to be a fan. In 1997 I saw the eighteenth movie in the Bond films, Tomorrow Never Dies, where I was introduced to Michelle Yeoh, last night’s winner for best actress. She was and remains stunning. Her confidence, athleticism, and smarts equaled the impeccable cool of Pierce Brosnan’s Bond. The Malaysian-born actor’s rise to fame began in a series of 1990s action films in Hong Kong. Ms. Yeoh, despite a long career, came to the attention of American audiences in the acclaimed movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, and the overbearing mother in Crazy Rich Asians. Trekkies know her for her role as Captain Philippa Georgiou in Star Trek: Discovery. After years of rising hate crimes against the Asian community following the Covid-19 outbreak, last night’s Oscars was a redemptive sigh of relief. Watching actors Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Daniel Kwan, one half of the creative team the Daniels[with Daniel Sheinert], was satisfying. Ke Huy Quan thanked his eighty-four-year-old mom, and Daniel Kwan paid homage to the immigrant roots of his parents. Calling the Oscar a ‘beacon of hope and possibility’ for all the little girls and boys that looked like her, Yeoh fought back the tears, and so did I. Their stories were quintessential American, and I appreciate the struggle as an older black American. Embarrassingly we had a leader who gave implicit permission for the small-minded and bigots to verbally and physically attack Asian[American]s. Purposefully ignorant statements like China-virus and Kung-Flu fed the fires of hate and fear. For a brief moment, the thunderous applause for Ms. Yeoh and her colleagues drowned out the shouts and calls of the racists and bigots. For myself, seeing another group of color reducing the loud voices of intolerance to a temporary whisper was another step forward. Like most victories in American race relations, it will evaporate under the scorching heat of intolerance and eventually melt into the atmosphere. One could almost predict the backlash once you heard the accents… Paul Schrader, the screenwriter of the brilliant film Taxi Driver, added a xenophobic slant to his criticism of this year’s Oscars. Schrader accused the Academy of being in the ‘scramble to be woke,’ adding, “I rather like the provincial origins of the Oscars: Hollywood coming together to celebrate its own.” It appears Mr. Schrader has been caught up in the un-originalism of woke-mis-ideology. Hollywood has a history of portraying Asian culture in a not so “woke” light. I guess when it is authentic, it is too real. Continue to Vote for Change [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/13/2157830/-About-Last-Night Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/