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Razz radio host Yugen Rashad's topics and insights tend to be controversial, entertaining, and to the point... so caveat emptor! - ed
Jazz radio host Yugen Rashad's topics, opinions and insights tend to be controversial, entertaining, and to the point... so caveat emptor! - ed

Oscar-winning Night
an Illusion of Inclusion for Blacks
 by Yugen Rashad

First, kudos to all the Black people able to make good in the entertainment field. Now, let's get down to business.

So, the 2005 Oscars are in the history books. And Black folks should be happier then ever to add Jamie Fox and Morgan Freeman to the list of winners: Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Whoopie Goldberg, Denzil Washington, Halle Berry, and Louis Gossett, who was caught on camera at this year's ceremony, dozing off. With Chris Rock hosting, I did, too.

Okay, they won. The intrepid Fox and the brilliant Freeman took home Best Actor and Supporting Actor trophies. For performances vastly different from those cashed in by Denzil and Halle three years ago, that we all know wasn't for their best work. (Denzil - Malcolm X, The Hurricane; Halle - Loosing Isaiah, The Dorothy Dandridge Story.)

At least Fox's Ray Charles wasn't a thuggish, conniving, violent, undercover cop by night that masqueraded as a singer by day, even though he was on drugs. And, Morgan could have been cast as a needy, boxing trainer that would find out later he was caught up in a horrid relationship with the same female judge that sentenced his criminal wife to the electric chair.

The immature Chris Rock hosted the awards. Scripted, unfocused, and boring, Rock should consider getting 'stoned' the next time he's asked to host, well, anything. He could use some mentoring from the great comedian and writer Paul Mooney. The selection of rock to host the awards signaled the direction chosen by Hollywood to increase a young, urban audience, the same marketing strategy deployed in the elevation of rappers as actors to fill theater seats. But we know miscasting is nothing new to Hollywood. How else do you explain why Beyonce sings two Oscar-nominated songs?

Now, I'm probably the only brother in the world with the nerve to criticize her. The second coming of Vanessa Williams except we don't know if Beyonce will try acting. The assumption is everyone wants to look at her frame. As far as looks are concerned, I didn't know that was a prerequisite for singers, but perhaps Hollywood wanted a certain look and sound they could market, which is fine. Look, Beyonce is an average singer with descent range. Beyond all the aesthetics, I sense a great deal of arrogance in her.

We can only hope the Black horde in the entertainment business will take the lessons embedded in the movie Ray, to heart. Prince is also a valuable academy in which to enroll. He understands how not to sell your soul.

And we must never forget that the Oscars are a bastion for Euro-American values in the entertainment genre. A crowning achievement of America's ascendancy in the world. The celebration of a Euro-centric weltanschauung that praises his relationship with the object of his desire - seeing himself on top of the world.

The Oscar awards may not ever provide Black people the sustainability, integrity and artistic expressions we seek, but its still fun to make a big bag of popcorn and watch. See you next year.