Laura Merrell
Although last Sunday’s Oscars ceremony was filled with many memorable moments, like Jennifer Lawrence tripping on her dress on the way to the stage and Daniel Radcliffe dancing and softshoe, Michelle Obama stole the show. In a surprise appearance, she announced the Best Picture award winner live from the White House, surrounded by awkwardly smiling members of the military. As a presenter, she seemed out of place and with the past Oscar awards I have watched. I found myself questioning in what capacity she was appearing. Was she acting as the First Lady or just as a lover of film? As Jack Nicholson stated, the Best Picture award is typically given by a sole presenter, so this was a clear break from Oscar tradition.
I would like to preface my remarks by stating that I voted for Obama in the most recent Presidential Election, and I consider myself a Democrat, so I am not simply against Michelle Obama’s appearance at the Oscars for political reasons. Many conservatives consider her involvement in the awards ceremony improper, although, according to the New York Times there is precedent since Laura Bush was part of a segment for the awards in 2002.
However, I am not trying to take a conservative or liberal point of view on the current First Lady as an Oscar presenter. I don’t want Washington party politics to figure into the show at all. While the themes of the nominated movies such as slavery in “Django Unchained” or Osama Bin Laden’s death in “Zero Dark Thirty” can be considered political issues, I watch the Oscars each year because I find it refreshing that the event itself is removed from the partisan fights plaguing Washington. Or at least that’s how it seemed, until Mrs. Obama appeared on a huge screen, wearing a shiny, silver dress.
Had Mrs. Obama simply read the list of nominees or recited a mediocre, canned speech like the other presenters I might have let it slide. Instead, she took the opportunity to pause and give a brief public service announcement about the importance of engagement in the arts and fostering a love of imagination in our children, which seemed out of place with the event and her duty as a presenter. Was the viewer supposed to consider her message an official statement from the White House, or just another speech given among the other Hollywood presenters during that night?
Also, why was she asked to present the Best Picture award? It is arguably the climax of the awards show, as the nominees for Best Picture were featured throughout the night leading up to the moment when the winner was revealed. She was asked by the producers of the Oscars and Harvey Weinstein to appear as a presenter, but they didn’t seem to take into account that her surprise appearance could very likely overshadow one of the biggest awards of the evening. As the producers of “Argo”, including Ben Affleck and George Clooney, took the stage, the camera continued to pan back and forth between the First Lady and the winners, which made me question who the focus was really on.
Michelle Obama’s unexpected involvement in the Oscars made me realize that a new, more powerful form of “First Lady” is being ushered in. From the beginning, she was never in her husband’s shadows but her popularity is starting to eclipse President Obama’s. According to Forbes.com, Michelle has a higher approval rating than Barack, and while I’m all in favor of that transition, there is a time and a place for everything, and the Oscars were not.
I fully support having a strong, active First Lady who uses her position to positively promote political and social issues, but the Oscars wasn’t the right event to do that at. I tuned in to the Oscars to escape into a world of Hollywood glamour. I wanted to marvel over the fabulous dresses and ridicule the bad ones and gaze adoringly at the assembled celebrity couples. Instead, I had to sit through a PSA from Michelle Obama on the importance of fostering the arts and wonder whether no event is immune to the influence of Washington.
Laura Merrell is a Viewpoints Editor for the Voice and can be reached for comment at LMerrell15@wooster.edu.