By Megan Mills
The American viewer has become accustomed to members of the film industry using their moment in the spotlight at the annual Academy Awards show (otherwise known as “the Oscars”) as a platform for political expression. The Oscars, which dates back to 1929, recognizes excellence in cinematic achievement and has historically been apolitical. Yet, in recent decades, Hollywood insiders have increasingly used the Oscars’ platform to comment on political and social issues. Each year, millions of Americans watch to see what Hollywood insiders will say about these topics. Over the years, some commentary has been successful in its impact, while others back-fire on the artist as insensitive, too divergent from the majority of social opinion or too one-sided on an issue that is deeply divided. At this year’s Oscars, English film director Jonathan Glazer, took the stage to accept the best international feature film award for The Zone of Interest and gave his own anti-war speech on the Israel-Hamas War, focussing on the Israeli military campaign in Gaza and the deaths of Palestinian civilians. The speech received applause by audience members, but in the days which followed, it received push-back by Hollywood insiders, pro-Israel organizations and everyday social media users for being offensive to Jewish people. Glazer’s speech is important to the academic field of Cultural Studies because it highlights how a social structure like the Oscars has evolved into a forum that can shape American opinion on a particular issue, like the justification of war, as well as a forum to help Americans become critical thinkers, create meaning about events going on around them, and promote a better future for everyone.
Glazer, who is Jewish, stated: “Our film shows where dehumanization leads, at its worst. It shaped all of our past and present. Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel, or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?” Audience members applauded Glazer’s comments, but in the days that followed, pro-Israel Hollywood insiders, Jewish organizations and ordinary Americans on social media expressed their dislike for Glazer’s words. For example, the day after the awards ceremony, the Anti-Defamation League, through social media, pushed back saying that “Israel is not hijacking Judaism or the Holocaust by defending itself against genocidal terrorists” and that Glazer’s comments were “morally reprehensible [because t]hey minimize the Shoah [and] excuse terrorism” (ADL). Similarly, a group of about one thousand Jewish executives and Hollywood professionals denounced Glazer’s acceptance speech stating that “We refute our Jewishness being hijacked for the purpose of drawing a moral equivalence between a Nazi regime that sought to exterminate a race of people, and an Israeli nation that seeks to avert its own extermination” (Siegel par. 3). Although Glazer's intention to build a consensus on ending the Israel-Hamas War failed, he nevertheless, sparked debate and critical thinking among Americans about the issue.
Stuart Hall, generally considered the most important figure in the formation of Cultural Studies as an academic discipline, believed that the rise in mass communications, beginning in the latter part of the 20th century, would permanently change society’s relationship to those in authority and to one another. Specifically, Hall theorized that mass communication would eliminate an easy consensus to authority, and instead would help formulate a free society's cultural construction of events around them (Hsu par. 3). Glazer’s acceptance speech at the Oscars and its social media response demonstrates exactly what Hall was anticipating. The convergence of these communication mediums which allow for an almost immediate form of expression, opinion and debate on the subject matter of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas War fosters critical thinking in a free society like the United States, which can impact social opinion and fundamental change in American foreign policy. In this way, Glazer’s speech at the Oscars is a type of medium of mass communication that Hall envisioned would improve society.
Although the Oscars began as a venue for Hollywood’s cinematic celebration, over time it has become so much more. Hollywood actors, directors, screenwriters and others often use their brief moment in the spotlight to highlight a social or political issue. Sometimes there may be universal consensus around an artist’s position, and sometimes an issue is so deeply divided that the artist may not get a consensus of support from others but instead experience backlash for their commentary. Whether universally accepted or controversially challenged, Oscar speeches, like that of Jonathan Glazer, fosters dialogue, debate and critical thinking among all members of society. Glazer’s speech demonstrates how the Oscars have become a forum for political expression, and one where an artist can hope to engage the critical thinking of its viewers to improve society. Glazer attempted to accomplish this by putting forth his position that the Israeli government should cease its counterattack on the Gaza strip because too many innocent Palestinians are being killed. From a cultural studies lens, Oscar speeches like Glazer’s help us understand the ways in which a free society thinks about an event as it is occurring, makes sense of the event, considers what should be done about it, and promotes how society can be improved from it. Remarkably, the Oscars, which began as a uniquely American awards show, is today a venue for a cultural construction of not only the United States but how the United States should interact on a world stage.
Works Cited
Anti-Defamation League [@ADL]. “Israel is not hijacking Judaism or the Holocaust by defending itself against genocidal terrorists. Glazer’s comments at the #Oscars are both factually incorrect & morally reprehensible. They minimize the Shoah & excuse terrorism of the most heinous kind.” X, 11 Mar. 2024, 12:42 p.m., https://twitter.com/ADL/status/1767229691541225933. Accessed 01 Apr.2024.
Hsu, Hua. “Stuart Hall and the rise of Cultural Studies.” The New Yorker, 17 Jul. 2017, https://www.newyorker.com. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.
“Jonathan Glazer calls out Israel's weaponization of the holocaust.” YouTube, uploaded by Middle East Eye, 11 Mar. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ymiyNmr1WY. Accessed 04 Apr. 2024.
Siegel, Tatiana. “Over 1,000 Jewish Creatives and Professionals Have Now Denounced Jonathan Glazer’s ‘Zone of Interest’ Oscars Speech in Open Letter (EXCLUSIVE).” Variety, 18 Mar. 2024, https://variety.com. Accessed 01 Apr.2024.
No comments:
Post a Comment