MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2022
Transcript on demand: There was at least one great joke at the Oscars last night. It came early in the opening monologue, when we were still watching:
Amy Schumer: This year, the academy hired three women to host because it’s cheaper than hiring one man.
By any measure, that was a good, solid, unimpeachable, straight-ahead top-shelf zinger. (For the record, we don't know what actual male/female salary gaps in Tinseltown may actually be like at this time.)
Concerning the evening's later joke that roared, so taste levels in the comedy world have gone. But so too with almost everything else in the realm of popular entertainment and popular pseudo-journalism. (The History Channel now earns its keep with shows about ancient aliens.)
From the journalistic realm, we offer this observation:
It's often hard to find transcripts of important public events. Also, MSNBC may have decided to suspend the practice all over again. (As we type, it has now been 13 days since the channel posted new transcripts.)
That said, you don't have to wonder what was said in last night's opening monologue. Perhaps a bit laughably, the New York Times has provided a transcript of this historic event!
In fairness, that one joke was a stone-cold zinger. Thanks to the possibly childish cultural standards of the Times, the entire opening monologue belongs to the ages now.
You actually watched some of that? Oh dear.
ReplyDeleteWhat you should be doing these days, dear Bob, is wondering if November is coming this year.
You remember how you were worrying, dear Bob, a few years ago, when there was no reason to whatsoever, except for your acute TDS? Well, now it seems like a good time to panic...
"For the record, we don't know what actual male/female salary gaps in Tinseltown may actually be like at this time."
ReplyDeleteIf Somerby doesn't know this, it is because he hasn't cared enough to look this information up.
In less than 1 second, I found that "In 2019, a team of economists found that, on average, male actors earn $1.1 million more per movie than their female costars with similar amounts of experience."
Here are some resources:
https://theconversation.com/exploring-the-data-on-hollywoods-gender-pay-gap-127414
https://uwm.edu/news/hollywoods-gender-pay-inequity-1-million-per-film-uwm-researcher-finds/
https://variety.com/2020/vintage/features/gender-pay-disparity-actors-1234867430/
Note that the study by economists of the gender pay gap in movies controlled for other factors, such as experience and the star's track record.
I highly recommend watching the Documentary, "This Changes Everything," with Geena Davis:
"'This Changes Everything': Geena Davis On Empowering Women In Hollywood A new documentary explores how women in Hollywood are pushing for more representation in front of and behind the camera. Davis and director Maria Giese discuss the dramatic disparities on screen."
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Most, however, I cannot believe that Somerby has the nerve to claim that he doesn't know what the size of the pay gap is. There is no excuse for such ignorance after the fuss that has been made about it -- other than pure misogyny of the type that Somerby repeatedly displays here.
Most liberals would not have the nerve to brag about their ignorance on this topic, but we all understand that Somerby is not liberal.
It's okay to say "I don't know," it doesn't make you a bad person.
DeleteIt does make you a bad person to make no attempt to find out and then pretend to be liberal.
DeleteIt is also sort of embarrassing to confuse a statement of literal truth with a joke, calling it a zinger.
DeleteIf Somerby does know the truth and he called it a zinger as a way of dismissing women's complaints, that is an especially nasty response and Somerby would be a bad person indeed in that situation.
Somerby was given the benefit of the doubt but it is always possible he didn't deserve that charity.
So unless Bob spoonfeeds you statistics that a quick Google search will show, he's a bad liberal.
DeleteI'm going to have a word with his manager. Who is his manager? I want my money back.
"Who is his manager? I want my money back."
DeleteIt's some Right-wing nonsense meme creator.
Good luck tracking it down.
"Amy Schumer: This year, the academy hired three women to host because it’s cheaper than hiring one man."
ReplyDeleteWhat Somerby refers to as "a zinger" turns out to be nearly true, given that 1/3 amounts to 33% and the actual rate of disparity was 38% in 2017, a trend that has been getting worse, not better:
"In the film industry, the gender pay gap appears to be significantly larger. In 2017, a comparison of the highest-paid male and female actors revealed an average salary of $57.4 million for men and $21.8 million for women. That means that top female actors earn 38% as much as the top male actors."
According to Hollywood Insider:
"According to Forbes, the top 10 highest-paid actresses in 2018 earned less than 30 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. These actresses brought in a combined salary of $186 million, while the 10 highest-paid men earned $748.5 million."
Truth can certainly be a zinger, but it is pretty clear that Somerby regards Schumer's remark as a joke and not a straightforward statement of fact.
Kudos to Amy Schumer for making the attempt to wake up men, but some, like Somerby, may be comatose on this subject.
This blog has been nonsense for years, but in the last week, there's been a tiny shift towards slightly less nonsense; I am not optimistic but let's see where it goes, maybe Somerby is tired of how easily we debunk his obvious attempts at manufacturing ignorance.
ReplyDeleteGender inequality in the workplace is an extremely important issue, not just over pay, but who gets promoted, who gets taken seriously, who gets to make decisions. Women in science, for example, often have to publish with their initials to avoid sexism.
Having said that, actors are grossly overpaid, and when 10 people make almost $200 million, few are going to care about whether you suffered a gender pay gap.
Way more entertaining than "Hollywood" entertainment, is spending time with friends and family.
My teenager watches zero television, and most of the movies they watch are foreign or classics. This is how Gen Z is. They do not care about Hollywood, or other similar garbage like pro sports. If the world is still around when they come become the main societal force, society is going to be better for it.
Both jokes were so so at best. I may be prejudiced against the relentlessly unfunny Schumer to judge the joke properly.
ReplyDeleteBig money entertainment, as 6:55 suggests, is a poor business to use to judge wage gaps.
Welcome to Earth.
ReplyDeleteI like the joke a lot. You can rob people blind if you dangle women to oppress in front of men, sexism is a free way ton buy off opposition, and usually it comes with the ability to kill them if they stand up in the streets. It's surprising to see someone manage a sample of that reality into a reference to tv show hosting.
ReplyDeleteThat said, does anyone think of the pay gap in Honduras? Haiti? Yemen? You never see that history discussed. They're just called "border crossers." They're not even humans, just a problem.
Well, what if we called Amy Schumer a name like that? What if we forced her to wear a body tracker like Biden is doing to the refugees? Another Brittany Spears all over again.
And just watch. He won't do that to white people seeking asylum. But he'll do it to the colonized brown people.
Liberalism in America has no sense of international solidarity, just the usual worship of White empire. You should feel sorry for Ukraine but not because they're white, like many have admitted.
Bob has to post exactly how I want him to. Wahhh! I'm a spoiled brat that's never matured or faced any real adversity in life!
ReplyDeleteTranslation: "stop talking about oppression of women who aren't white"
DeleteJust to be clear, you're reading someone named Bob write about someone named Amy, a millionaire, and patting yourself on the back for "facing adversity."
DeleteLOL @ responders
DeleteWell, if you feel the shoe fits...
This blog frequently reminds us that people die all over the world and nobody cares.
DeleteYour attempt to discourage speech you don't like is noted. Also your comeback is bad.