By Arthur Piccolo
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Mar. 4, 2011: Barack Obama was not nominated in any category of the Academy Awards. Porcelain-skinned, Brooklyn-born, 29-year-old Anne Hathaway, who played to the younger demographic Sunday night in her role as MC, did not mention Obama’s name once during this year’s awards.
Still this year’s Oscars may come back to haunt the President like some obscure horror movie that takes off and steals the show. Obama might have been nominated if the Academy of Arts & Sciences were to broaden its eligibility to include performances by politicians. Why not? It’s a good idea.
They are on the small screen if not the big screen all the time. Politicians spend as much time preparing for their time in front of the cameras as much as more “traditional” actors. None more than the President of the United States for press conferences and special appearances, like his State of the Union speech.
In Obama’s case his best performance by far was his successful Presidential Campaign in 2008. That deserves an Oscar if anyone does. Best actor in a major production. Could he have been more believable. Was the plot anything less than perfect. And what an ending! Obama wins the biggest prize of all. What a movie! And as far as female lead let’s not forget Michelle Obama. She was marvelous, playing the part of the candidate’s compelling wife.
Sorry I’m getting off plot here. I mean message. Its just that the Obama’s are such good actors it’s difficult not to think of them in the same category with Anne Hathaway, James Franco, Jake Gylienhaal (Taylor Swift that must be his real name you could not make it up) or Colin Firth.
The 2008 Obama campaign was as good as The King’s Speech! Anyway let’s deal with reality and the actual 2011 Academy Awards, the reason I am writing this commentary rather than out standing on line with my sleeping bag to buy an iPad2 before anyone else.
One of what the industry itself would call a “minor” Academy Award and one Award that merited barely a dot of ink in all the saturation of the Oscar coverage before, during and after the Academy Awards, is the Oscar for best documentary.
That this Oscar’s even included it in the broadcast is testament to Hollywood’s enduring desperate attempts to appear relevant. This year’s winner deserves very, very, very special note.
And the Oscar goes to … Charles Ferguson for .. INSIDE JOB – The REAL story of the ultimate SCAM financial industry insiders and their cohorts like Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers, who played the American people and the world community.
And not only got away scot-free but they got and are still getting hundreds of billions more from the Treasury and the Fed as a reward for SCREWING all of us.
As Charles Ferguson said Sunday in accepting his Academy Award, is to remind us all not even one single person involved has gone to jail or is likely to do so.
And who is the ONE person on Earth with the power to have insisted the culprits be prosecuted? President Obama who has done absolutely nothing to do so. Instead, and this should be beyond belief – science fiction – he hired as his two top financial appointments Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers. Would some one look up the term criminal conspiracy????
Our President may be immune and may have protected himself with the layers of power he is able to command but he is not as safe from the judgment of the American people.
The reason Barack Obama should be losing sleep at night is the Academy Award winning movie INSIDE JOB. Hope he was watching. Most of all because it will be available starting this month as a low cost DVD you can purchase anywhere.
As more and more clips from this investigative documentary hit YouTube and as smart adversaries (if there are any) hold up copies of the DVD once the 2012 Presidential campaign season starts. Barack Obama may be in a very awkward situation.
Is one documentary not even directly about President Obama enough of a catalyst to topple him from the secure lock on a second-term he seems to hold now?
What’s that phrase? Truth is stranger than fiction. As in a documentary titled INSIDE JOB!!!
Arthur Piccolo is chairman of the Bowling Green Association in NYC and a regular blogger on Italica.us.
