There I was tonight, sitting at the table with a feast of stuffed bell peppers, when I was almost brought to my knees by the news announcement that Spike Lee and Jada Smith , to name a few, were going to boycott this years academy awards because no black actors had been nominated and therefore there was not an equitable representation of the talent in the business of acting.  Jesus H Christ in a hand cart.

I don’t normally attend movies so I have very little exposure to either Spike Lee or Jada Smith’s bodies of work.  I know about Morgan Freeman and think he is a good actor.  I don’t normally watch the awards so could not care less which actor decides to come or decides to stay at home.  The snippets of the shows that I have seen were made up of the actresses appearing in dresses that can best be described as “scanty”.  Have not ever seen an academy award show dress suddenly appear on any of the women that attend our church on Sunday morning.  For that reason I am befuddled as to why someone would spend good money to buy a dress that shows more than can be seen on a pole dancer at a pole dancing joint next to a naval base.

We hear people bemoan the shape our country is in.  I am here to tell you when it started.  It started at the very instance someone decided to give a trophy to every participant in the little league.  We have headed down hill ever since.  The winners get the trophy, the participants get a piece of paper stating that they did indeed attend all the practices, etc.  They didn’t get a trophy because their team was 0-16 for the season.  Anything other than this plan puts our life style on a down hill slide that is slicker than you know what on a playground slide.  Our problem is someone decided we should make our society one that is most affected by mediocrity. Cream rising to the top is frowned upon.  You can’t have any winners, only participants.

Now we are threatened to be punished, by the absence of certain members of the acting life, because we don’t have a black person in the race.  Did anybody ever stop to think that maybe the black actors werent the best this year?  Are we now supposed to give all the black actors one of those little trophies just because they are black.  What about the ones that aren’t as black as the average black actor.  There are shades of black, as well as shades of white.  Didnt Halle Berri win an award at some time in the past.  She isn’t as black as Spike Lee.

I am getting tired of having to make allowances for some people or some events just because we cant afford to hurt someone’s feelings.  Hey folks, win the damned game or go home and practice a little bit harder, run a few more windsprints or take a few more acting classes.  Take hold of your own life, make your own difference and quit expecting someone else to do it for you.

Gary