A Piece of the Rock

Here's a photo of Tim Robbins flipping off Chris Rock from last night's Oscar ceremony:



I was watching the show and didn't notice at the time. This immediately followed a mediocre crack by host Rock about Robbins' public persona. Something along the lines of, "He's either delighting us with his acting or boring us to death with his politics." It was a decent joke, and Robbins seemed to take it well to me. But then again, I only saw what the cameras focused on.

People seemed to be debating Rock's performance as host all day today. I thought he did a good enough job, keeping the show moving and providing some nice little one-liners now and again for comic relief. That's about all you can expect.

But a lot of people I spoke with found his attitude inappropriate. It was also obvious just watching the telecast that the audience wasn't exactly delighting in his antics. He's more mean-spirited and cynical than any other host in Oscar history, really. Oscar audiences are accustomed to Johnny Carson's mild jabs at obvious targets, Bob Hope's insanely tired vaudeville shtick or Billy Crystal's hacky obnoxious singing.

His line about Jude Law even drew the ire of Sean Penn during the actual show. Rock commented, rather inoffensively, I thought, that Law was sort of the Poor Man's Tom Cruise, and was in far too many movies. Though I think Law's a very talented actor, a more natural, believable performer than Cruise himself, actually, I agree he's overexposed. Being in five or six movies a year makes you an easy target for jokes, and Rock told a rather funny one. But still, Penn found it out of place.

It is a bit odd to invite someone to host the Oscars who obviously holds such contempt for celebrity, glamour and even the art of filmmaking. Rock doesn't make good movies, and hasn't, to my knowledge, ever seemed that interested in them from an artistic or creative standpoint. So, even though he's an extremely hilarious comedian, why have him host the show?

I was thinking today about who I'd invite to host the Oscars were I in Gil Cates' uncomfortable, old-man shoes. They're too old now, but my first impulse would be to invite Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner. Why didn't Mel Brooks ever host the Oscars? He strikes me as a perfect choice; funny guy, great ad-libber, successful filmmaker, beloved in the industry. I also heard people suggest Jon Stewart or Larry David today, and they strike me as terrific choices, even though neither's exactly made a name for themselves in the cinema.

I don't think Rock did a bad job, and I'd rather have him for another year than Billy Crystal or the reprehensible Whoopi Goldberg, whose attempts at zany one-liners thus far have been about as funny as the clips from the nominated Holocaust documentaries. Seriously, watching her host makes you beg for the segment where they show you who won the scientific and technical awards, just for a little levity. It's dull, I tells ya.