BY ALISON DELLIT
I'm sure mine wasn't the only household in Australia to grin and whoop as Michael Moore, maker of Bowling For Columbine, cut neatly through the bullshit at the 2003 Oscars to deliver a passionate anti-war speech.
Ignoring entirely the usual "I'm-so-overwhelmed-I-never-expected-to-win" comments, Moore treated the award as barely important. Instead, inviting all the documentary makers nominated in his category onto the platform with him, he chose to take a very public stand against US President George Bush and his invasion of Iraq.
As he was greeted by a standing ovation, the cheering began to be mixed with booing as Moore began to condemn Bush: "We believe in fiction, but we live in fictitious times. We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elects a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it's the fictition of duct tape or fictition of orange alerts, we are against this war, Mr Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you."
That was almost all that Moore had a chance to get out before the stagehands (who, according to the Los Angeles Times, were responsible for some of the booing) turned up the music, making Moore's the shortest speech of the evening.
The show's producers had worked hard to eliminate anti-war messages from the platform, despite the number of actors who are campaigning against the US-led war against Iraq. Susan Sarandon and Martin Sheen have attracted the most controversy, appearing in paid ads on cable television opposing the war. "Youth" station MTV has refused to run the ads, and has encouraged its audience to avoid "the ramblings of would-be politicians".
Barbra Streisand, Salma Hayek, Sean Penn, Danny Glover, Spike Lee, Robin Williams and comedian Jeanne Garofalo have also lent their active support to the anti-war campaign, and many more celebs (see box) have condemned the war in public appearances or by signing statements.
The Not in My Name statement — which condemns not only war on Iraq but Israeli aggression towards the Palestinians, the war in Afghanistan and racist policing — has been signed by directors Robert Altman and Oliver Stone, actors Ed Asner, John Cusak, Jane Fonda, Glover, Sarandon and Marisa Tomei, musicians Ani Di Franco, Michael Franti, Yoko Ono and Bonnie Raitt and authors Kurt Vonnegut, Gore Vidal, Alice Walker and Barbara Kingsolver.
A more conservative statement, put out by MASH actor Mike Farrell's group Artists United to Win Without War, which argues for the need to "disarm" Saddam Hussein's regime but opposes conflict, has an even longer list of celebrity signers.
The anti-war activism by celebrities has triggered a backlash by right-wing and pro-war groups. Sheen is now the subject of a petition campaign calling for him to be sacked from The West Wing, the television program in which he plays the US president. Sheen has been "warned" by his network, to which he has responded with a letter arguing for his right to free speech. Sean Penn argues his anti-war stance is costing him work.
A poll run by Hollywood Reporter, published on February 20, found that 45% of respondents thought anti-war celebrities should "shut up", and 44% would consider boycotting their work as a result. The country and western trio, the Dixie Chicks, have lost nearly 80% of their airplay in their home state, Texas, after their lead singer condemned the war.
At least one right-wing web site is selling T-shirts with check boxes next to a list: Afghanistan, Iraq, Hollywood. The first two are ticked.
In this context, Moore's refusal to be silenced at the Oscars was courageous, and provided a lead for others. All the Oscar presenters had been strictly told not to diverge from their scripts — which were written for them. Rumours abound that more outspoken stars such as Hayek, Streisand, Meryl Streep and Sarandon were required to sign formal contracts stating they would not speak out.
On the night, while not diverging from the script, Sarandon flashed a peace symbol at the crowd as she came on stage. Streisand continued negotiations over her speech, which made reference to an artist's right to free speech, right up until the beginning of the show.
Other than Moore, the most overt show of opposition to war came from actor Gael Garcia Bernal, who left his script to say that artist Frida Kahlo would have been "on our side — against war", and Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, who dedicated his Oscar to those "raising their voices in favour of peace, human rights, democracy and international legality". Best actor winner Adrian Brody spoke about the "dehumanisation" of war, while best supporting actor winner Chris Cooper called for peace. With at least 30 others on the night, Brody and Cooper wore peace badges.
But Hollywood is not entirely against the war, despite an intense right-wing media campaign implying the town has gone "pinko". Law and Order star Fred Thompson has been appearing in television commercials in support of the war, and comedian Dennis Miller has slammed the "activist celebrities" as "unpatriotic", adding "I would call the French scumbags, but that, of course, would be a disservice to bags filled with scum". James Earl Jones, who was appropriately the voice of Darth Vader, has gone on a speaking tour to promote the war.
Censorship has not been confined to the US. British singer George Michael recorded an anti-war song, only to have the BBC black out the band's "No War, Blair Out" T-shirts when they appeared on TV.
In Australia, Silverchair's new single has footage of Bush saying "I say jump", intercut with PM John Howard saying "I say, how high". Actor Heath Ledger used his attendance at Melbourne's March 20 peace protest to speak forcefully against the war in several interviews. At one press conference, he called Howard "a dick".
"What am I going to blow up [by speaking out]?", Ledger asked the ABC's Andrew Denton on Enough Rope on March 24, "My career? My career is so insignificant in this war, I'm willing to lose a few jobs. It is not a fight for humanity, it is a fight for oil and screw it and screw them."
From Green Left Weekly, April 2, 2003.
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