If Trump is sitting in bed right now, surrounded by piles of McDonald’s Extra Value Meals and watching the Oscars, he’s gonna be piiiiiissed.
When presenting the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Javier Bardem—who co-presented with the ageless and fucking flawless Angela Bassett—threw a low key political statement on borders and celebrating other cultures—and in Spanish, to really drive home the point. The actor said, “There are no borders or walls that can restrain ingenuity and talent. In any region of any continent, there are always great stories that move us. And tonight we celebrate the excellence and importance of the cultures and languages of different countries.”
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At a time when people are attacked for speaking Spanish, and thousands are still detained at our nation’s borders in inhumane ways, this was a refreshing and important moment to send a message to Trump and his border wall supporters.
In year’s past, Oscar hosts and presenters have had to find a way to meld political statements into jokes, which doesn’t always land. But seeing as how this year there’s no host, and the Academy has seemingly decided to go with a “hand ’em out with a quick few funny lines” route, this was a brief and vital moment during a time when xenaphobia is rampant.
Gracias, Javier, por estas palabras!
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