Seems
like Seth MacFarlane is coming up tails in nearly every media outlet for being,
well, racist, homophobic, and misogynistic. Key detail everyone seems to have
forgotten: he does it for a living.
And
a good living it is, indeed. The man is worth nine figures. His animation
empire has reached a level of success rivalling Groening’s Simpsons and Parker & Stone’s South Park. At 24, he was the youngest producer/creator in network
television history. I don’t care what the business; no one reaches the top of
their field without being pretty damn smart.
Yesterday
MacFarlane proved he was not only one of the smartest men in animation but one
of the smartest on the airwaves. Throughout the entire broadcast, he was one
step ahead of everyone else, and the biggest drag of the evening was that no
one was even aware of it. If you ask me, his entire routine was thinly veiled
criticism of Hollywood hypocrisy and folks were too drunk or
sanctimonious to appreciate it.
From
the onset, MacFarlane was self-deprecating and cleverly meta. Prognosticating
(through Bill Shatner) the outraged headlines from tomorrow’s (today’s) Oscar
coverage indicated he knew what was awaiting him and didn’t give a damn.
Remember how he tried to fix it? Throwing in song and dance numbers that
critics derided as superfluous. Remind you of anything? Reminds me of a
bloated, ungainly, 3.5 hour presentation that the producers tried to keep
afloat by inserting Chicago and Dreamgirls tributes even though neither
of those films have any cultural relevance today. That’s right: MacFarlane was
parodying AMPAS tactics before AMPAS even unleashed them.
(Also,
in a subtle but brilliant dig, MacFarlane shoots back at criticism that he
plagiarises The Simpsons by covering “Be
Our Guest,” a source of inspiration for the 1995 Simpsons parody “See My Vest.”)
Everyone
is making a big deal about the Chris Brown/Rihanna comment, but again I think
this was smoothly calculated. Chris Brown was allowed to perform at the 2012
Grammys. Last week, at the 2013 installment, Rihanna was snuggled up to him,
blissful as can be. I suppose four years is long enough to forget this
happened:
Chris
Brown has clearly been welcomed back by the music community AND HIS VICTIM with
open arms. I saw no protest and little public outcry. This means, by default,
people are okay with it. So why can’t they laugh about it? Is it perhaps
because abusing women isn’t funny? Damn right it’s not, nor is it funny that today's music culture is one of aggressive anti-feminism. Here’s my question: How
is a man who did the above to Rihanna welcome to perform as if nothing had
happened, but a completely separate guy with no criminal record or history of
violence, simply pointing out the absurdity of their relationship not welcome? I
posit because Hollywood is afraid to look itself in the mirror.
Same
goes for the boob song. Everyone is up in arms, yet everyone forgets how the
film industry is OBSESSED WITH BOOBS. Every time Jennifer Lopez wears a risqué, figure-hugging, or
neckline-swooping dress she is put on the front cover of every magazine in
town. Stylists discuss how bold or ostentatious her dress choices are. Does
Nicole Kidman (who gets a mention in the infamous song) expect people to
believe her breasts are real? Or her nose or face or any part of her body that
makes her look like an alien? Clearly, a culture that values youthful looks to
the point where women need to cut themselves is no laughing matter. Clearly, a culture where every woman on the red carpet is asked about her dress, jewelry, and makeup before her artwork is patronising and condescending to women. Score
another point for Seth.
Perhaps
most absurd was MacFarlane’s hiring on the heels of last year’s Ratner “scandal,”
in which the producer “quit” the 84th Oscars after saying “Rehearsal
is for fags” during a press conference. So what does the Academy go and do? Enlist
one of the most controversial comic figures on the planet to host next year’s
show. As far as I’m concerned, MacFarlane was just giving them their money’s
worth. After all, he brought on a gay men’s choir and joked about the show not
being able to get any gayer. Oddly, few specific mentions or direct quotations of
either are to be found in reviews. Neither of these two choices has come under
serious fire from critics – probably many of the same critics who were after
Ratner’s blood last year.
(For
the record: MacFarlane is an outspoken
gay rights supporter about whom people are merely jumping to harebrained
conclusions)
MacFarlane’s
performance at the 85th Academy Awards was a sharp, calculated
lampooning of Hollywood bombast, platitudes, and two-facedness. He was never
planning on coming back. He arrived with a giant bag full of fuck yous and distributed
them as he saw fit. And the audience, through its hypocritical,
self-incriminating groans, played right into his hands. The joke is on you,
Hollywood. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.
