Oscar, Hollywood's Politically Correct Award

(by Greg Crosby)

The Academy Awards show will be on this Sunday (I'm still a little bugged that they changed it from Monday. I don't know why, but it seemed more exciting on Mondays somehow) and last week the Screen Actors Guild had their awards show.

Let's focus on the SAG awards for a second. For quite some time now the Guild has done away with the actress designation preferring to use the more politically correct term, Female Actor. The categories are Best Male Actor and Best Female Actor. If the purpose was to have equal designations, I suppose they could have just as easily gone the other way and made the categories Best Male Actress and Best Female Actress. You know, I actual­ly like that better. They really should have consulted me first.

The fact is, if they truly wanted to address all actors fairly, equally, and politically correctly, then they should do away with the male and female gender labels altogether. Let's be gender nonspecific and just have one Best Acting award given to the one actor, male or female, who brought in the best performance for that year. Listen, if you want gender equality then let's really have it.

And while we're on the subject, aren't the designations male and female separatist by definition? Men and women, boys and girls, lads and lassies, guys and dolls — all separatist and there­fore unequal by their very nature. Why not do away with those sexist terms, not only in acting, but in normal daily life? Just call people persons without any reference to gender at all. No differ­entiation whatsoever. Instead of the men's room and women's room, there would be one large people's room (or person's room if you prefer). Clothing would be devoid of any gender referenc­es, too — just different sizes and different styles. And let's lose the children labels as well. After all, children are just people that happen to be younger and smaller, right?

For quite awhile now P.C.A.M.P.A.S. (Politically Correct Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences) has used the phrase, "... and the award goes to..." Replace that bad old judg­mental term, "... and the winner is..." That way they can have their contest without actually having to refer to the winner of that contest as the winner — even though that is exactly who the award recipient is — the winner. But, you see, the word winner is a negative word because it makes the other four contestants, by process of elimination, losers — even though that is exactly what they become when they don't win.

But getting back to those best acting awards, I believe it's high time that they be completely, utterly 100 percent all-inclusive. Yes, only one Best Acting award a year should be awarded — but that category should not be exclusive to human beings. I think the award should take into account non-human performances also. Remember the drunken horse in "Cat Ballou?" Even Lee Marv­in, when accepting his Oscar for that picture, said that the horse really should have gotten the award.

How many times have you seen an animal upstage a human actor in a movie? Plenty. Is it so far-fetched to think that in any one year, perhaps the only creature who would truly deserve the acting award might be an animal? Think of all those great dog actors like Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Asta, and Beethoven. Think of Trigger. Gentle Ben. And don't tell me that Johnny Weissmuller's acting was any better than the chimpanzee in those "Tarzan" films.

Why stop with animals? Plants are living things too. Shouldn't Audrey II, the plant in "Little Shop of Horrors," have at least been nominated for an Oscar? Or the field in "Field of Dreams?" After all, the field played a part in that movie every bit as impor­tant as the human actors. Heck, it even got the title role. And what about the mashed potatoes in "Close Encounters of The Third Kind?" Deserving of at least a supporting nomination, don't you think?

I don't believe best acting awards should include animated, stop-action, or computer generated characters, however. They aren't real. Besides, you've got to draw the line somewhere — otherwise everything would be eligible for a best acting award. And that just wouldn't be fair.

Comprehension and discussion questions:

1. What do you know about Hollywood, Oscar and the Screen Actors Guild?

2. Why has the Guild done away with the actress designation? What can this kind of reasoning lead to in Academy awards show?

3. How is political correctness viewed in normal daily life?

4. In what spheres of life should people be PC?

5. What examples of PC does the author give besides gender reference?

6. Where does the author suggest drawing the line both in best acting awards and in ordinary life?

Exercise 21

Explain the following words and phrases in English:

1. to be bugged    5. award recipient

2. sexist terms       6. all-inclusive

3. differentiation  7. far-fetched

4. judgmental term 8. supporting nomination

Exercise 22

Explain in English what the following word combinations mean. Find how some of them are used in the text:

                                              difference

                                              reference

                                              distinction

 gender                                  labels

                                             differentiation

                                             nonspecific

                                             bias

                                             equality

Exercise 23

Translate the following word combinations into Russian and look up the sentences which contain them in the text:

 equal designations

to be separatist by definition

to be devoid of references

to by process of elimination

to be exclusive to

to upstage smb in

to draw the line at/between

to be eligible for an award

Now use some of the words in the following sentences.

1. The young actor who _____ a famous star in the per­formance truly deserves the acting award.
2. The task of any chief executive officer is to ensure that the staff have fair _____.
3. How can a person _____ humor be employed in the company's public relations?
4. It's a question of finding the mean between too lenient treat­ment and too severe punishment. One should know where _____.
5. The police established the identity of the dead man _____.
6. The luxury suite in the hotel, spacious and decorated in an antique style is _____ presidents and high-ranking officials.
7. The two politicians embarked on their political careers pur­suing the interests of one and the same party but ended up in the leadership of the parties _____.      .
8. Men and women _____to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in the UN principal and sub­sidiary organs.

Exercise 24

Study the following chains ofderivatives andfill in the gaps with them.

a. to design — designing — design — designer — to designate — designation:

• The staff was impressed by the work of the _____ whose intricate patterns yielded instant credit to him.
• As a result of promotion his official _____ was the editor of the Daily Telegraph.
• The _____ for the new residence approved, the build­ers got down to work the next day.
• The official residence _____ for holding receptions and parties and hosting exhibitions and sales conferences.
• The residence also _____ as an emergency centre in the event of an attack or any unexpected upheaval.

b. to equal — (un)equal — equally — equal — (in)equality — to equalize:

· Representatives of all social groups and ethnic minorities should get _____ pay for _____ work.

• The diplomats chose a neutral country so that they could meet on _____ terms.
• The person who leads a group of people but is not seen as being better or more important than the other members of the group is first among _____.
• New Labour academics think the notion that one in four Brit­ons is living in poverty actually measures _____, which has certainly increased, rather than poverty.
• None of the diplomats can _____ the Foreign Secre­tary's skills and mastery as an orator.
• The candidate was reported to be competing on _____ terms, which caused a scandal.
• _____ disturbing were comments made by Sir H. O., chairman of the Commission for Racial _____.
• The ruling party's policy was _____the tax burden.

c. to separate — separate — separatist — (in)separable — separation — separatism:

· _____ minorities from each other is sometimes the only way of preventing riots and clashes.

• In the case of _____ or divorce, it is the children's needs that should come first.
• It is not clear whether such interests do more harm than good in their emphases on racism, discrimination and a _____ agenda.
• He rejected the validity of a common culture, saying that black children needed to be taught and to have a _____ curriculum.
• Some claim that the issue of political correctness is _____ from the issue of human rights.
• Other nations, such as China and Burma have seized the op­portunity to link domestic ethnic _____ with the ter­rorist network.

 

a. to exclude — exclusive — exclusively — exclusion:

• His _____ from the negotiations was widely com­mented on by the press.
• In an _____ interview the Prime Minister dwelled on the economic aspects of the problem.
• You can't keep going with a society where many _____ unless you have gated communities.
• This type of activity _____ to people who are extremely fit.
• He writes _____ for the Financial Times.

 

Exercise 25

Use some of the studied words in the sentences below. Put them into the correct form.

1. Cooking would clearly seem to be a field that lies _____ within women's realm, yet the annals of cookery are replete with masculine names.

2. Enrico Fermi _____ a device that could eventuate in a chain reaction.

3. Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry are replete with derogatory _____ to these creatures.

4. The _____ of visual and aural communication tend­ed to vitiate the learning process.

5. The manufacturer had to glean and test many different _____ before he accepted the one you see in the array before you.

6. In theory, although conflicts and skirmishes continued be­tween the two countries, the Scots were _____ part­ners with the English and maintained their own legal system.

7. With both sides _____ entrenched and fired up after such a week, confrontation seems inevitable this Sunday.

8. Half of the contenders _____ from the competition in the first round.

9. Diane Fox, a rising star, _____ Best Female Actor at the Academy _____ show. In an _____ inter­view Diane said she was in the seventh heaven of delight. She made no _____ to the well-known incident.

10. With the scarcity of food and basic commodities, babies were born _____ of all hope and lacking in fundamental human rights.

Read the short article below, which appeared after the tragic events of September 11, and say what the message of the arti­cle is.

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