Commentary. I heard that Michelle Obama presented an Oscar from the White House. If you ask me—and nobody did—I think the First Lady is way out of place at the Oscars.
So it is said, as I didn’t watch the awards show myself. The media carries nothing but Academy Awards stories this morning, so it was hard not to notice that Michelle Obama had a role.
It’s one thing to sit by for another four years to watch the country decline at the vote of an advancing majority. It is quite another when that majority is represented by activities in Hollywood. It is simply outrageous that the leader of our nation should send his wife to shower favor on a show that touts the shallow values of cinema.
Don’t get me wrong. I like a good movie as much as anybody else. I like to see the best ones rewarded. But, for the First Lady to cast her presence in an entertainers’ ceremony devalues the high position she occupies.
I find myself in the company of others in my outrage at the mixture of movies and politics in one night of TV entertainment. Perhaps Mrs. Obama has been miscast in her political role.
It might be said that Mrs. Obama’s announcement of Argo as Best Picture was appropriate. That is, a political figure bestowed award on a political movie. That’s where ‘apropos’ ends. It is not only an inappropriate place for the president’s wife, but promotes the notion that President Obama thinks himself a rock star.
During my last trip to L.A., my Armenian Iraqi cab driver announced that he played the Turkish Inspector in Argo. He considered himself special, as Ben Affleck personally selected him for the role. He has returned, however, to driving a taxi, just as Michelle Obama shed star status this morning.
I turned off TV back in 2008. Last night’s Oscar performance showed what a good decision that was. Now if we could only get the bit-part players off the stage.
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