Oscar Winner Hits Angry Chord

[WhiteTara]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/06/AR2006030601461.html

When Christine Smith heard the song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" announced as the Oscar winner for best original song on Sunday night's telecast, she almost fell off the sofa in her Arlington living room.
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"It was just like during the time when all the blaxploitation films were coming out with African Americans being portrayed as pimps and hos and gangsters," said Jessup, 51.

"It was another example of how they pick the worst aspects of black life and reward that. There are more important things in our culture that need focus more than the hardships of a pimp," he said. "The only place many people see our culture is through movies and on television, and at the same time, this country is experiencing an influx of people coming over here from all over the world, and the only thing they see of black America through the media is . . . pimps and gangsters and all of that. It's always some low-down brother or some welfare mother."

Particularly offensive to Robinson, 36, was the performance by hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, featuring men dressed as pimps and women in the hot pants and rabbit furs of streetwalkers. "I have no problem with movies and songs being gritty," she said, "but I have a problem with something that falls just short of a minstrel show."

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[roguevalley]

1. I would have to say, I am tired of it too. But it is the one that won.

[tuvor]

2. Only three songs were up for an Oscar.

It was as close as you could get to even money without even trying.

[cynatnite]

4. Why only three songs?

They can't tell me that there were only three new songs in movies last year.

I don't mind this song winning, but it sure would have been nice if there had been a few more.

[tuvor]

9. I presumed something from Walk the Line would be in the running.

And I was ready to root for it, too! :)

[Rosco T.]

22. Nothing eligable.... best ORIGINAL song... ie...

written for the picture.

[wicket]

36. I still think Dolly was robbed

But I agree- why weren't there more songs, there were certainly many more original songs in the movies last year.

[Katherine Brengle]

54. I think so too--that song was beautiful and moving. n/t

[sam sarrha]

3. pimps are sex slave masters.. period. it is perverse to glorigy them even

in just.. they should be hung from the street lamps

[cynatnite]

6. hung from the street lamps? as in lynching?

sorry, that's just how this reads to me.

[mb7588a]

7. i think the movie is about a guy trying to dispel himself of

the pimp lifestyle.

[sam sarrha]

12. oh, the subject is so deplorable i wouldnt see the movie at all, thanks for

the heads up

[mb7588a]

5. those fellas or dolly parton?

not many good songs i guess!

[FreedomAngel82]

13. The song from "Crash" had a nice melody and vocalist

But I would've chosen Dolly I think.

[sam sarrha]

8. so what is the ratio to white to black pimps, & ratio to black and whites

what is the reality..?? that should be decided before the debate begins

[Hardrada]

11. White pimps run corporations

and governments.

[FreedomAngel82]

14. This could be George Bush's theme song

[Hardrada]

16. GOP theme song

and Lieberman and Biden will join in the chorus too.

[FreedomAngel82]

17. They would have a special solo

[Hardrada]

18. Falsetto too.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

32. "It's hard work for a pimp" is more like it. Oh, and "need some wood?"

[The Backlash Cometh]

29. And the Christian Right are very good at pimping Jesus.

[FreedomAngel82]

10. I was hoping for Dolly myself

[sandnsea]

15. Confessions of a naive white woman

I've lived alot of places in my life, with a wide variety of people. Spent the last 23 years in recovery, met a whole bunch more people.

So don't laugh... but I had NO FRIGGIN' CLUE. I watched about half of Hustle n Flow, and thought it was the absolute stupidest movie I had ever seen, I mean, what the FUCK was this shit???

Then, America Undercover came on and I was too lazy to change the channel. Oh. My. God. Pimps and whores live TOGETHER... in the same house??? Some of those prostitutes grew up in homes like that. Holy shit!!!

Oooooh... Hustle n Flow makes a little more sense.

Like takin from a ho don't know no better, I know that ain't right
Done seen people killed, done seen people deal
Done seen people live in poverty with no meals
It's fucked up where I live, but that's just how it is
It might be new to you, but it's been like this for years

[IsItJustMe]

19. Al Sharpton didn't like it. Say him on Hardball today.

[Hardrada]

53. That's nice they finally got around

to having him on TV.

[Pachamama]

20. I'm still in shock that this song won over Travelin Thru" & Into the Deep

Both Dolly Parton's song from Transamerica (dealing with Transgender & discrimination) and the song from Crash "Into the Deep" (dealing w/ racism) might not be the all time greatest songs of Movie History and Oscar History, but I had never heard "It's hard to be a Pimp" until it was performed on the stage at the Oscars and I was disgusted and nearly fell off of the couch when it won....

A song glorifying pimps beats out songs about tolerance (and talking about Jesus and salvation) and another song about racism and its wrongs?

Wow...maybe the christo-fascists are right when they say Hollywood is out of touch....

[FreedomAngel82]

24. And than they turned around and thanked Jesus

:shrug:

[NuttyFluffers]

26. reality trumps fiction each and every time.

i've rarely read fiction that came even close to the madness that reality pumps out on a regular basis. ;) i like to tease aspiring writers and RPG storytellers that their writing isn't going for the gusto in terms of creativity. they always reply, "but if i wrote something like that it wouldn't be believable. that suggestion is so unlikely, it's beyond the realm of probability." and then i gently remind them how reality defies their thinking on a nigh regular basis. a failure to appreciate the true madness of the world, i think.

[sandnsea]

27. Forgettable songs really

People were shocked when Shaft won too, but which is the song people remember now?? I don't think the song or the movie glorified pimps, but rather told that story and that pimps are a product of the environment, just like whores and drug dealers. I know it's a shocking song, but it did fit the movie quite well. And while Travelin Thru is a nice song, I'm so sick of Jesus I could just pull my hair out. I wouldn't have voted for it on that basis alone. And the other one, like I said, forgettable. I kind of think that's how this one won.

[IsItJustMe]

55. It didn't bother me at all that it won. I try not to be judge mental about

these things because when I am, I feel like I am becoming the thing that I hate, the right wing.

In the over all scope of things, it's not worth the mental effort to be pissed off about it. There are definitely bigger fish in the pond.

[fujiyama]

21. I like Jon Stewart's comment

If you're keeping count, Three 6 Mafia: 1 Oscar.

Martin Scorcesee: 0

And people are acting as if the Academy's choices even matters. These shows are just dumb entertainment. A big industry circle jerk.

Even Jon Stewart couldn't save the show last night. That's why I spent so much time on this site. Aside from the Clooney and Stewart skit at the begining and Clooney's hit at conservative whiners, I found the show dull. Stewart had some funny cracks here and there, but it's difficult to sit through the entire show for just that.

[Lorien]

25. This year's crop of films was dull imho

granted, I haven't seen many of the nominees-but I wasn't terribly inspired to see them, either. :shrug:

[FrenchieCat]

23. The real pimps are in our White House..... and the heads and CEO of

large corporations.

The movie is about redemption..... How one can come from a low place, still have dreams for a better tomorrow, and try and make them come true.

Plus, there really are Pimps and Hoes out there in the real world.

The song is that of artists who understood all of the above..... :eyes:

[qanda]

28. Now this conversation should be interesting

When people have these warped ideas about black culture and life, I often wonder where they come from. I couldn't quite put my finger on why I hated the fact that Three 6 Mafia won, but I'd say this woman has expressed nicely how I feel. It was so demeaning and I am afraid that if that's what people think of black people then we have no one to blame but ourselves.

I saw all the black actors just happy that a black group won-- nevermind the image that was portrayed.

[Minnesota Libra]

30. With all due repect if more flattering forms of ......

....ethnic entertainment were created then those would no doubt be the ones honored.

[Meldread]

31. I know what they mean...

...it's the same way with gay people. They can only portray us as either victims or stereotypes. At least Brokeback Mountain wasn't a stereotype - up until recently that's how we were mostly portrayed.

You won't be seeing a gay romance story with a happy ending coming to a theater near you anytime soon. Or just of an average every day gay couple.

[LWolf]

33. So did I.

To nominate, let alone perform, a song sympathetic to the man who peddles the flesh of others for cash, is obscene.

That it actually won says a world about the dysfunctions of American culture.

[montana500]

34. nm (self delete)

nm

[montana500]

35. free speech and art.....ain't it grand?

Don't slip into the thought process of a fundie.

[LWolf]

38. It is grand.

That doesn't mean that all speech should be glorified, though.

Hate "speech" is not ok in my book. I think that glorifying pimps glorifies misogyny.

I don't let my students or my kids use freedom of speech as an excuse to be disrespectful to each other. I don't use my own freedom to express myself to glorify human dysfunction.

[montana500]

40. hip hop is an art. Art is sometimes not pretty.

When you seek to ban free speech, you become a right wing fundie for all intents and purposes.

[LWolf]

57. I'm not seeking to ban free speech.

I've heard the "music is an art form" many times, and had this debate many times, with my oldest son. A musician.

Not all expression is art. In my opinion, at least. I don't consider hate speech, or the expression of bigotry, or misogyny, "art," for example.

Hip hop is a genre of music. Art is in the eyes, or ears, of the beholders. Or listeners, I guess. My comments aren't about hip hop, they are about glorifying what I consider to be the worst of human dysfunctions: hate. I consider pimping to be an act of hate. I don't think pimping is an art form, and I don't think it needs to be glorified.

[Solly Mack]

37. For the record. The movie DID NOT - I repeat - DID NOT - in

any size, shape, form or fashion - glorify being a pimp. Quite the opposite actually.

OK. Once again - the movie DID NOT GLORIFY THE LIFE OF A PIMP.

The song itself is used as part of the movie - and the scene where the song comes together happens to be about empowerment. That's right - empowerment. I think the song won because of that scene alone. It was powerful. It was filled with emotion.

The song in the movie is a different arrangement from the one people heard at the Oscars, btw.

Life can be ugly. There are pimps in the world. There are hookers in the world. There are bad people in the world. They come in all colors of the rainbow. The film does not ask anyone to excuse the character's behavior and it doesn't ask you to understand his behavior - it just puts it out there - raw. "gritty". real. It makes no apologies - because that is what life is like for some people. Tragic. Dirty. Abusive.
But never without the human element - no matter how ugly it is.

What pisses me off is knowing that this movie could have been played with a white cast and critics would have praised the in depth character study the actors brought to the process - to the movie. Critics would have raved on and on and on how some well known white actor added dimensions and complexities to an unlikeable character. How they had to step into a role that was so outside their own personalities.

Well, Terrence Howard ain't no fucking pimp either.

[bunkerbuster1]

43. Perhaps if the guy introducing the song had said

"You can't judge a book by its cover."

[Solly Mack]

44. Maybe. I don't think movie was marketed accurately either

the ads for it I saw didn't convey the actual "feel" of the movie.

[bunkerbuster1]

48. 'twas a joke. The song WAS introduced that way

at the Oscars...by LudaChris, I believe.

[Solly Mack]

49. oops - forgot that...you're right

didn't seem to help though - people still judged.

39. I found that strange too - celebrating a pimp

there is glamour at the top .01% of that trade and below that it is violence, degradation, drugs, AIDS, abuse.

[julialnyc]

41. although I will admit I don't see why Crash should have won

Just my opinion....but I found the other films stronger


I thought the song from the film was gorgeous (it also set the mood throughout the movie)

[linazelle]

58. I liked it too--I didn't see it as negative, it was all "show". n/t

[Stephanie]

42. Um, what about the CAR BOMB DANCE NUMBER?

Have you ever seen anything weirder than that?

[Bandit]

45. Wasn't the song about Bush*

"It's Hard" "It's Hard Work"

[npincus]

46. "it's HARD WORK being a Chimp"

[mondo joe]

47. Those who complain clearly forgot Denzel and Halle's recent

wins. They forgot Crash (eventhough I thought it was a sucky movie). They forgot a lot when they say things like "they pick the worst aspects of black life and reward that."

[mattclearing]

50. She'll be elated at Dave Chappelle's Block Party, then.

Now that's a movie that accentuates the positive.

[Yavin4]

51. In Hollywood, Pimps and Studio Executives Are Indistinguishable

So, I guess the award was just professional courtesy.

[kentuck]

52. I think Dolly was robbed...

Her song was one of the highpoints of the presentations.

[devilgrrl]

56. Golly! I can't stop thinking about this! It SO matters!

:sarcasm:

Who gives a rats ass?