Monday, February 25, 2013

Plurality of 39 Percent Want Seth MacFarlane Invited Back to Host the Oscars

That's at the unscientific "Poll Daddy" survey at the Los Angeles Times, "Oscars 2013: How was MacFarlane as host? [Poll]."

Look, I loved Nikke Finke's Oscar's live snark, but I have to admit that I was ROTFLMFAO when McFarlane sang "We Saw Your Boobs" with the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles. That's completely not what you're expecting. Sure, the dude probably should watch it on the ugly Jew-bashing jokes, although I personally was not offended by Rihanna and Chris Brown's date night for "Django Unchained."

In any case, ratings were up, at LAT, "Oscars 2013: TV ratings rise with Seth MacFarlane as host," and at NYT, "Academy Award Show Raises Ratings and Hackles."


More at LAT, "Oscars 2013: MacFarlane opens the show both crude and polished."

And from David Denby at the New Yorker, "THE WHITE HOUSE OSCAR," and Amy Davidson, "Seth MacFarlane and the Oscars’ Hostile, Ugly, Sexist Night."

And from Marlow Stern, at the Daily Beast, "The Juvenile Oscars."

But see Eisa Nefertari Ulen, at the Washington Post, "Seth MacFarlane and The Oscars: What’s all the fuss?":
... anyone familiar with Seth MacFarlane’s work expected him to teeter over the knife’s edge of good taste. This is the dude who created “Family Guy,” “American Dad,” “The Cleveland Show.” Someone with more power than MacFarlane even gave him the opportunity to hit The Big Screen, and Seth gave us “Ted.”

And last night was just as fresh. I don’t want waving peace signs. I don’t want an explicit request for greater diversity in the industry that purports to show us, bigger than life and in HD. I don’t want seductive yet vaguely paternalistic expressions of respect for women actresses. You want that? Dig in the crates. You’re gonna have to go back in the Academy Awards days to get that display of political correctness.

Me? I want exactly what I got last night. I want a 9-year-old black girl flexing muscles for millions of other 9-year-old black girls to see. (Beast it, Quvenzhane!) I want Robin Roberts bald and beautiful. I want Octavia Spencer just a little bit cocky on the mic. And I want a host willing to push buttons that will keep the audience awake, engaged, clicking about more than smoky eyes and body size.
More at that link above, and from the comments at the New York Times:
The Onion overstepped the bounds of civility. Mr. MacFarlane merely caused a bit of discomfort. His funniest line - cocaine trees! - got lost. Something tells me that there's a direct correlation between one's age and how offensive one found him.

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