GREAT NEWS FOR VIOLA DAVIS, SHE IS MAKING NEWS AS ñ SHE IS
MAKING HISTORY AS THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN WHO WON AN AWARD FOR
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA.
SHE WON AN EMMY FOR WHAT
SHE DID, SHE OBVIOUSLY VERY TALENTED, BUT NOT EVERYONE WAS A
FAN OF THE SPEECH SHE GAVE WHEN SHE ACCEPTED THE AWARD.
SHE
TOOK IT UPON HERSELF TO QUOTE HARRIET TUBMAN, WHICH MAKES
SENSE WHEN YOU CONSIDER SHE WAS THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO WIN
THIS AWARD.
SHE SAID, "IN MY DREAMS I SEE A LINE.
OVER THAT
LINE I SEE GREEN FIELDS AND LOVELY FLOWERS AND BEAUTIFUL
WHITE WOMEN WITH THEIR ARMS STRETCHED OUT TO ME OVER THAT
LINE, I CAN'T SEEM TO GET THEIR KNOW-HOW, I CAN'T SEEM TO GET
OVER THAT LINE."
SHE ALSO MENTIONS THAT, AS A BLACK WOMAN,
YOU CAN'T WIN THESE AWARDS UNLESS YOU ARE GIVEN THE
OPPORTUNITIES TO WIN IS A WORD.
VERY POWERFUL AND MOVING, BUT
ONE ACTRESS FROM GENERAL HOSPITAL, A SOAP OPERA, WAS NOT
HAPPY ABOUT THIS.
NANCY LEE GRANT WENT ON TWITTER AND
PROTESTED THE SPEECH.
HERE'S WHAT SHE SAID, "I WISH I LOVED
VIOLA DAVIS'S SPEECH, BUT THAT SHE SHOULD HAVE LET SHONDA RIMES
RATED."
PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE WHAT SHE HAD TO SAY, BUT SHE
CONTINUED.
"TRY BEING ANY WOMAN IN TV.
WISH SHE'D BROUGHT EVERY
WOMAN IN THE PICTURE.
I WISH I'D HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY
THE ROLES SHE GETS."
BETTER.
SHE'S ONLY REALLY BEEN IN
SOAP OPERAS.
THAT LAST TWEET MAKES HER SOUND LIKE SHE IS BETTER THAT SHE
HASN'T BEEN GIVEN THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES, OR SHE HASN'T
RISEN TO THE OPPORTUNITIES ñ HASN'T RISEN TO THE OCCASION.
LET'S BREAK THIS DOWN.
I LOVE THE SPEECH, AND THE HARRIET
TUBMAN REFERENCE IS GREAT.
MORE IMPORTANTLY THAN ANYTHING ELSE,
I LIKE IT BECAUSE IT POINTS OUT A CENTRAL FACT ABOUT LIFE.
YOU
CANNOT WIN IF YOU ARE NOT IN THE GAME.
OPPORTUNITY IS SO
IMPORTANT.
WE DON'T WANT ANYONE TO WIN BECAUSE OF ANY EXTERNAL
FACTORS.
RACE, WHATEVER IT MIGHT BE, BUT WE WANT EVERYONE
TO HAVE A FAIR SHOT.
SHE SAYS WE CAN'T WIN THE AWARD IF WE
DON'T HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, SO THE FACT THAT SHE HAD
OPPORTUNITY AND DELIVERED ON IT, GREAT.
THAT FOCUS IS SPOT ON.
SUMMARY APPARENTLY SAID, I THINK IT WAS THE SAME SOAP OPERA
ACTRESS, YOU ARE NOT LIKE HARRIET TUBMAN, YOU DIDN'T
PICK UP A SHOVEL ñ
AND ACTUALLY TAKE TO BUILD THOSE TUNNELS.
THE UNDERGROUND TUNNEL WAS MAINLY METAPHORICAL, BUT ANYWAY.
I HAVE MORE.
IF YOU THINK THAT WAS BAD, SHE KEPT GOING ON AND ON, AND
SHE COULD NOT GET THE POINT.
HERE IS SOME OF WHAT SHE SAID.
SHE SAID, "HARRIET TUBMAN NOT EQUIVALENT TO GREAT WALLS
VIOLA DAVIS HIRED TO PLAY.
SHE MADE MILLIONS, IT'S AN UNFAIR COMPARISON."
OF COURSE SHE'S NOT.
TUBMAN, THERE WAS SLAVERY BACK THEN, WE
KNOW THAT.
I'M GOING TO GET IN TROUBLE, BUT THE, FIRST
AFRICAN-AMERICAN TO DO X, Y AND Z, THEY'RE GETTING CARRIED AWAY
WITH IT.
FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN TO WIN AN OSCAR, GREAT, AGREED
100 PERCENT.
FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN TO WIN CHOREOGRAPHER IN EDITING OR
WHATEVER ñ
THIS IS A HUGE CATEGORY CENK, AND THE REASON WHY IT IS
IMPORTANT IS BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF DISCRIMINATION
WITHIN THE MOVIE INDUSTRY, THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY.
FOR THEM TO FIRST GET THE OPPORTUNITIES IT WAS A HUGE
WIN IN IT OF ITSELF.
I DISAGREE WITH THAT.
LET ME FINISH MY ARGUMENT.
THE THING ABOUT THEM WINNING AN AWARD, THAT'S AN EXTRA LAYER.
THESE AWARDS ARE SO BIASED, AND IT IS ALWAYS THE SAME
PEOPLE, ALWAYS THE SAME BIG NAMES, IT IS VERY ELITIST.
A LOT OF TIME FOR MINORITIES DON'T HAVE THE SAME
OPPORTUNITIES TO EVEN WIN THESE AWARDS, EVEN IF THEIR
PERFORMANCES ARE INCREDIBLE, SO THIS IS A BIG DEAL.
OFTENTIMES IT'S HOLLYWOOD THAT'S BIASED, THEY ARE
NECESSARILY RACIST, IT'S JUST THAT IN EVERY INDUSTRY THERE IS
A GOOD OLD BOYS CLUB.
THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW PEOPLE, THEY
KNOW THEM AND THEY WANT TO VOTE
FOR THEIR FRIENDS, AND THE PEOPLE THEY HAVE DONE BUSINESS
WITH.
IT IS HARDER TO BREAK INTO THOSE INDUSTRIES.
WHAT I
WAS GOING TO SAY IS I RETRACT MY STATEMENT.
I THOUGHT IT WAS
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, BUT IT IS ACTUALLY BEST LEADING
ACTRESS.
THAT IS SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH.
I DENOUNCE AND REJECT
MYSELF.
IF WE GET INTO SUPPORTING ACTRESS, THEN ALL RIGHT.
I JUST FEEL LIKE, THIS IS THE SAME WOMAN WHO SUPPORTED
PATRICIA ARQUETTE WHEN SHE GAVE THE SPEECH ABOUT FEMINISM AND
HOW IMPORTANT IT IS.
BLACK WOMEN ARE INCLUDED IN THE
WOMEN'S MOVEMENT, SO SEPARATING THEM LEAD TO A NEGATIVE REACTION
TO HER SPEECH.
I FOUND IT
INTERESTING THAT NANCY LEE GRAHN WAS A HUGE FAN OF THAT SPEECH,
BUT WASN'T A HUGE FAN OF VIOLA
DAVIS' SPEECH.
BECAUSE OF VIOLA DAVIS' SPEECH WITH POWERFUL.
I LOVED IT.
I AM GOING TO GO BACK AND GIVE ONE MORE PARDON ñ NOT A
FULL PARDON, BUT A PARTIAL
PARDON TO NANCY LEE GRAHN, AND I'LL TELL YOU WHAT.
EVENTUALLY
SHE DID THE SAME THING THAT I DID, AND SHE WENT BACK AND
DISAGREE WITH HERSELF.
SHE GAVE AN APOLOGY THAT I FOUND TO BE
REALLY GOOD.
SHE SAID, I NEEDED TO CHECK MY OWN PRIVILEGE, AND
LATER ON SHE SAID, I NEED TO REALIZE MY INTENTION DOESN'T
MATTER HERE.
I DIDN'T INTEND TO OFFEND PEOPLE, BUT I DID, AND
THAT IS WHAT MATTERS.
THIS IS GREAT, BECAUSE OFTEN THE APOLOGY
WOULD BE LIKE, IF I OFFENDED YOU ñ SHE DIDN'T DO THAT, SHE
ADMITTED THAT THERE WERE THINGS SHE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND, BUT SHE
IS TRYING TO, AND SHE IS GOING TO LET THIS BE A LEARNING
EXPERIENCE FOR HER.
I THINK THAT'S A REALLY GOOD APOLOGY.
SHE ADMITS IT, SHE WISHED SHE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY AT SOME OF
THOSE ROLES.
SHE DID NOT GET THEM EVEN KNOW SHE IS WHITE.
TO
SHE WAS SAYING OPPORTUNITY IS AN ISSUE FOR ALL OF US, THAT IS
WHAT INFORMS HER REACTION TO THE SPEECH.
IT DOES NOT MAKE IT ANY
BETTER, BUT THEN SHE GOES BACK
AND APOLOGIZES.
I WILL END ON, SHE SENT ONE MORE TWEET.
"THIRTY YEARS IN ADVOCATE ON HUMAN RIGHTS, AND NOW I'M A
RACIST?
COLOR ME HEARTBROKEN."
DON'T SAY COLOR ME ANYTHING THAT
DON'T DO THAT.
YOU THINK SHE DID THAT ON PURPOSE?
SHE MIGHT HAVE MEANT IT AS A CUTE PLAY ON WORDS, NOT
REALIZING NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULD THINK IT CUTE.
IRONICALLY, WHAT HAS SHE CREATED HERE?
A BIT OF A SOAP OPERA.