Movie stars protesting at the Oscars - does anyone really care?

The Academy Awards have a long history of protests, writes Sue de Groot

Fireworks of the fervent ideological sort are expected at the 89th Academy Awards, which take place tonight in Hollywood.

The Golden Globes are always a litmus test for who might win an Oscar. This year, they also provided a preview of who might make an incendiary speech.

Accepting the Cecil B DeMille lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes last month, Meryl Streep denounced US President Donald Trump's bullying tendencies and called for the protection of a free press.

The entertainment world has come out in support of her, and if she wins best actress for Florence Foster Jenkins tonight, the audience can expect another enjoyable rant.

story_article_left1

Streep is not the frontrunner in this category, but there will be other opportunities for controversy. Whether or not his film The Salesman wins best foreign language film, the absence of Iranian director Asghar Farhadi will be noted.

He announced recently that he would not attend the awards because of Trump's travel ban - which affected citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen until it was blocked by a court - regardless of whether he was granted exemption to enter the US.

Farhadi's talent agency, UTA, announced that it was cancelling its annual Oscar party and would instead hold a pro-immigration rally supported by A-listers Mark Ruffalo and Paul Bettany, among others. A petition (signatories include Keira Knightley and Ridley Scott) was circulated, calling for The Salesman to be shown outside the US embassy in London while the Oscars took place. Others suggested the awards ceremony be cancelled altogether.

Boycotts are one way to make an impression, but the famous and beautiful generally prefer to be seen and heard. They also believe they have important things to say.

For this we can blame Carl Laemmle, US film pioneer and co-founder of Universal Studios, who was responsible not only for more than 400 films but for what became known as "the star system".

In 1910, Laemmle took the unknown actress Florence Lawrence, built a lavish publicity campaign around her and created a monster that has grown into a multibillion-dollar hydra - the movie star.

Movie stars are no longer just movie stars. Now they are UN ambassadors, brand influencers and opinion formers. If you have a massive public profile, why not use it for good? The question is whether anyone takes this sideshow seriously.

block_quotes_start In 1993, Richard Gere used the stage to denounce China's oppression of Tibetans. He was banned from presenting at the Academy Awards, but forgiven 20 years later

In 1973, Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather went on stage to decline Marlon Brando's best actor award for The Godfather, which Brando refused to accept because of the way Native Americans were misrepresented in film.

Whatever cynics may say, Littlefeather's stunt became a seminal Hollywood moment. Less widely publicised was Jada Pinkett Smith's decision to boycott the awards two years ago. Smith (wife of Will) told reporters she had been inspired by Littlefeather's long-ago act, but her attempt to emulate it did not make world headlines. It's harder to be noticed when you're not there.

However pure their motives, the actions of Hollywood stars do not necessarily make much difference. The Vietnam War did not unhappen because it was denounced by Oscar winners (Peter Davis for Hearts and Minds in 1975 and Oliver Stone for Platoon in 1987).

Other noble-minded gestures have backfired. In 1978 Vanessa Redgrave was censured for making a pro-Palestinian speech when she accepted her best actress award for Julia. Redgrave referred to "Zionist hoodlums whose behaviour is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression".

full_story_image_hleft1

Screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky raised a cheer from the audience when he commented on Redgrave's speech, suggesting that "her winning an Academy Award is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require a proclamation, and a simple 'thank you' would have sufficed".

In 1993, Richard Gere used the stage to denounce China's oppression of Tibetans. He was banned from presenting at the Academy Awards, but forgiven 20 years later. And in 2003 the audience booed so loudly that they drowned out Michael Moore, who, in accepting his best documentary Oscar for Bowling for Columbine, called for fellow nominees to rise up against George W Bush's "fictitious" reasons for going to war in Iraq.

At that time, the academy and political activism were not on the best of terms. Thanks to Trump, however, protests are firmly back in fashion. This should make tonight's ceremony a lot more fun than last year's, when the most exciting moment was Leonardo DiCaprio's whine about climate change.

sub_head_start The Oscar colours: black, white and gold sub_head_end

In 1940, when Hattie McDaniel became the first black Oscar winner (she won best supporting actress for her role in Gone With The Wind), presenter Fay Bainter gave a speech which at the time was considered edgy and courageous. Bainter praised the academy for embracing "the whole of America; an America that we love, an America that almost alone in the world today recognises and pays tribute to those who give her their best, regardless of creed, race, or colour".

All very well, but it took until 2002 for a black woman to win the best actress award. Halle Berry took it for Monster's Ball. Berry dedicated her Oscar to "every nameless, faceless woman of colour that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened".

story_article_right2

The door did not open all the way. Fast-forward to 2015 and the start of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy. One of the catalysts for this was the snubbing of Selma director Ava DuVernay, who, despite wide critical acclaim for her Martin Luther King jnr biopic, did not receive an Oscar nomination.

John Legend, who won best original song for Glory, featured in the film, said in his speech that "Selma is now, because the struggle for justice is right now".

(Legend is an executive producer of La La Land, which has been nominated for 14 Oscars, so he might get the chance to make another fiery statement tonight - which he will, if his angry repudiation of US President Trump at the Producers Guild of America Awards was anything to go by.)

Since #OscarsSoWhite, the academy has attempted to redress its imbalances by appointing more diverse voting members, and this year's nominee lineup shows progress.

DuVernay has been nominated for best documentary feature (for 13th) and a record number of six black actors and actresses have been nominated across the performance categories.

Fences star Viola Davis has become the first black actress to receive three Oscar nominations.

Barry Jenkins is the first African-American filmmaker to be nominated for best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay and Joi McMillon is the first black woman to be nominated for best film editing (both for Moonlight).