SPOTLIGHT: CHRIS ROCK

Somebody on my live-journal friends page (who I actually don't know in real life, but is just one of those internet people) said the following, in reference to the Oscars:

"I thought everyone who won, save Jamie Foxx, deserved their award, competition aside.... Chris Rock pissed me off. The Oscars are not a roast, and I am annoyed with him in general, regardless of where he is, because I don't think that "black people/white people" jokes are funny or socially helpful to anything progressive in race relations. He offended me quite a few times, and I wasn't even the people he was directly insulting. I thought Sean Penn was awesome with his rebuke of Rock's disrespectful comments. Anyway, I hope he is NEVER host of anything ever again...."

Maybe I'm overreacting. But is that not clearly and abudantly racist?

You didn't like Jamie Foxx? Fine. I passed over that. You don't like Chris Rock? Fine, who gives a shit?But let's talk about the second-to-last sentence, and also about what ACTUALLY happened at the Oscars.

Chris Rock, in a warm-up monologue written with the help of Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno, said the following:"Who is Jude Law? Why is he in every movie I've seen in the last four years?"Personally, I believe the implication of this mysterious, highly obscure and hard-to-understand line is that JUDE LAW HAS BEEN IN A LOT OF MOVIES LATELY.

Apparently, Sean Penn--- the rich, smug, supercilious, over-earnest and hypocritical emblem of everything people hate about "Liberal Hollywood," with good reason--- didn't think so, because three hours later, he replied:"In response to our host, I'd like to say that Jude Law is one of our finest actors."

Okay. So, essentially, here's the recap: A "black man"--- one of the most successful comics working today, who regularly tackles the absurdity of modern race relations with his predominantly black audiences--- took note of the fact that a "white man"--- one of the wealthiest and well-regarded actors in the industry, who was recently voted the sexiest man alive--- had been in a lot of movies lately.And this, according to Sean Penn and my "friend," was a blatant show of "disrespect."

Disrespect.

See what happened? Chris Rock went from a world-class comic with millions of fans to a little boy who spoke out of turn. From a keen social critic to a vulgar nephew. From the host of the Academy Awards to a subordinate of the industry.

Amazing how the clock can be turned back fifty years in a single live-journal post.