Oscar Soul Power
I like thisBy Tafari West
I am not mad at Mo’Nique. After months of buzz (and a little bit of back-biting) she represented at the Academy Awards last night, shouting out black Hollywood pioneer Hattie McDaniel as she collected the glittery gold statue for her performance in the Tyler Perry Oprah Winfrey production of Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire.
But that was just one highlight of a night filled with Soulful moments. From Precious director Lee Daniels’ nomination for Best Director, to Morgan Freeman competing for Best Actor based on his portrayal of Nelson Mandela in the film Invictus, to Oprah Winfrey’s touching tribute to Gabby Sidibe—who sat smiling, with tears streaming down her face. And then there was the downright bizarre acceptance speech that’s already being called the 2010 Oscars’ “Kanye Moment.” When Roger Ross Williams was receiving his Oscar for best documentary short for Music By Prudence (about a legendary disabled Zimbabwean musician), he was rudely interrupted by an elder red-headed woman who elbowed her way in front of the microphone, spoiling the producer director’s moment in the spotlight. Turns out she was a producer formerly attached to the project who was let go. Wonder why?
Far sweeter was the moment when Geoffrey Fletcher became the first African-American screenwriter to win an Academy Award for Precious, his adaptation of Sapphire’s novel Push. It was the 39-year-old NYU and Columbia film professor’s first produced script, but presumably not his last. “I don’t know what to say,” he said at the podium and then proceeded to deliver a heartfelt and moving speech for “everybody who works on a dream every day.” Shine on.
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