Best Acting Oscars Spark Debate About Political Correctness, Merit

For every white man who had the experience and skills to do the job but wasn’t hired because the boss had to hire a black and compensate for past injustices, Russell Crowe is now our new poster boy.

Almost everyone at the academy knew that the performance Crowe gave in “A Beautiful Mind” far surpassed Denzel Washington’s performance in “Training Day.” But to please the PC crowd and make up for past injustices to blacks, Denzel got the Oscar.

Now, the next time Russell is nominated and even if his performance isn’t as good as the other nominees, the academy will give him a “makeup Oscar.”

And I really thought that after Sept. 11, America would have moved forward.

ROBIN HOWARD

Laguna Hills

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OK, let’s get over it now. The best actor and best actress awards at the Academy Awards went to Denzel Washington and Halle Berry.

I’m not going to name those two artists in the politically correct term that so many people would wish me to use. Berry and Washington happen to have dark skin. I know that there are so many people out there who want to call this an achievement over perceived racism in Hollywood, and I think that is such bull. These two people now have possession of Oscar statues because their acting skills were deserving of such. Their skin color had nothing to do with it.

I fall into the human category of what many people call a WASP, and I hate that term, so don’t call me that anymore, and let me revel in the fact that an actor and an actress who I enjoy watching, two people who have darker skin than me, were honored for their skills.

MIKE BULTSMA

Lakewood

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How is it a film (“A Beautiful Mind”) that wins for best film, best director (Ron Howard), best screenplay adaptation (Akiva Goldsman) and best supporting actress (Jennifer Connelly) fails to garner a win for best actor (Russell Crowe)? I am stunned, disappointed and dismayed at the academy’s choice of Denzel Washington for his performance in “Training Day.”

If it were not for Crowe’s magnificent portrayal of the brilliant John Nash, would Howard, Connelly, Goldsman and producer Brian Grazer have received recognition?

Crowe was John Nash. I am not a Russell Crowe fan but his acting was brilliant. Is it possible that since he won best actor last year for “Gladiator,” the academy collectively decided to overlook him?

LAUREN KUCKELMAN

West Covina

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I am very happy that Halle Berry and Denzel Washington took top honors at the Academy Awards, not to mention the lifetime achievement award given to Sidney Poitier, because now blacks will stop complaining about how they are not given opportunities in the entertainment industry. I am just tired of hearing about it and the conversation is now over!

To those blacks who want to continue living with victim mentality, I have three words for you: Halle and Denzel.

R. M. LEWISTON

Brea

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I was a little disappointed with Halle Berry’s acceptance speech. I think she sold her peers short and left the impression that she was being recognized as a black actress and that Hollywood was making amends for years of racial bias.

In my opinion, Berry gave one of the strongest performances I have ever seen on the screen. Her performance left me with hope for all actors and actresses. She set an example of what can be and should be, transforming self and portraying some of the most intense human emotions in a profound and straightforward manner.

I agree that this award marks a first for the African American community; however, it was earned through personal strength and ability, not social responsibility.

MICHAEL HENDERSON

El Monte

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In her acceptance speech, Halle Berry stated that her Academy Award was, in part, for “the nameless, faceless women of color who now stand a chance tonight because the door has been opened.” Is Berry saying that until 2002, Hollywood, the bastion of liberal political correctness and Democratic Party fund-raising, was racist?

MICHAEL H. BARTON

Beverly Hills

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In a year when the motion picture academy demonstrates so clearly that it honors artists on the basis of their talent without regard to skin color, it is unseemly for a principal recipient of the award to suggest that the door for an award has been closed to black actors.

There is no data to support anyone’s notion of having not won either a nomination or the award because of skin color. For every Denzel Washington who didn’t win in prior years (“The Hurricane,” 1999), there’s a Steven Spielberg who also thought he should have won for previous films (“The Color Purple,” 1985; “Amistad,” 1997).

JAKE ANGELIN

Hollywood

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I am amazed at the emphatic reaction of those who feel the Oscars were a triumph for the African American population. These overreactive liberals should quit making this a race issue. Denzel Washington and Halle Berry won their awards on merit and consistent talent alone, and those people who try to read any further into this are just kidding themselves.

Let us stop sorting America into races; we are all Americans, whatever the color of our skin. Let it be. We are living in 2002, not 1902.

LUCINDA M. RAMM

Pasadena