Back to Black

2018...and we're out of the gate...and heading deep into awards season...from #metoo to #timesup...2017 is still burning in the rearview mirror...and so, with award show #1, we swam in a sea of black...familiar faces side by side with those who should be familiar...the women in the trenches far from the paparazzi of Beverly Hills...these women had a lot to say...but for the most part the "E" idiots gave them 20 seconds before cutting to celebrities who were not nominated, and really just on the very fringe of the film industry...sometimes I felt the urge to shout "yes" in solidarity...but then sighed at the prospect that the message may have been lost...this wasn't funeral black...or interview black...or camouflage the extra 10 pounds black...it was Armani Prive...and Christian Siriano...and drop dead jewelry...and the weeks of not eating prior to the notice to toss the emerald for black still showed in the size -20 pantsuits...the sexual assault issue in Hollywood is real...and raw...and ugly...Oprah got me off my seat...after a year of starving for the beauty in language...and powerful speech writing...there was a glimmer...but really, it was Natalie Portman who summed up the "Golden" bullshit with one line...presenting best director..."And here are the all-male nominees"...this is the essence of the fault in the bigger picture...and all harassment...the lack of equal representation in management...without it...without a clear and safe and legal harbor for reporting...the risk of job loss for whistle-blowing is all too real...and we are never going to move forward...instead of harnessing this golden opportunity...with a chance for change...we will just go back to black