Goldberg’s Comments Get Mixed Reaction

Whoopi Goldberg got generally good reviews on her hosting duties at the Academy Awards on Monday night. But several observers and cultural organizations inside and outside Hollywood found some of her jokes anything but a laughing matter.

Leaders of several organizations, as well as some producers and directors said they were angered and disappointed by Goldberg’s remarks about the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s protest against the Oscars and his fight to combat what he called institutional racism in Hollywood. They said her remarks belittled and dismissed a serious fight to gain diversity within the motion picture industry, and was an insult to African Americans and people of color.

On the other hand, others criticized Jackson, saying that his protest was ill-timed and ill-advised. They said they were not surprised that few of the prominent African Americans present, including Oprah Winfrey, Sidney Poitier and Laurence Fishburne, chose not to wear rainbow-colored ribbons as a sign of solidarity with Jackson and the cause of his Rainbow Coalition.

The response made many conclude that Jackson and his Rainbow Coalition were not being taken seriously. They claimed that his weeklong campaign, sparked by a People magazine cover story that said the exclusion of African Americans in the movie business was a “national disgrace,” had embarrassingly fizzled in front of an international television audience.

The conflicting reactions generated a buzz in coffeehouses and offices around the country that at times overshadowed discussions about the amount of cleavage visible and the presenting of the awards themselves.

Said producer-director Stan Lathan: “It was depressing what happened last night. The message was not taken seriously. Just because jokes were made about this doesn’t mean that there isn’t a problem.”

Jeanette Dates, author of “Split Images: African Americans in the Mass Media,” added: “This whole thing became a joke at the expense of black people.”

And Guy Aoki, president of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, said: “What Whoopi did was out of line. Some of the members [of the protest] are very frustrated with Whoopi. She went out of her way to be mean. She doesn’t have to agree with what we’re doing. But for her to go that far out is very sad and undermines the seriousness of what we’re trying to do.”

During her monologue, Goldberg took a swipe at Jackson at the same moment that the civil rights leader was picketing across town in protest of the Oscar ceremony and the fact that only one African American was among the 166 nominees.

“Jesse Jackson asked me to wear a ribbon. I got it,” Goldberg said during her opening. “But I had something I want to say to Jesse right here, but he’s not watching, so why bother?” The black-tie audience erupted in laughter and applause.

Later in the show, actor Nathan Lane said he had just seen Ross Perot screaming outside the Music Center “wanting to know why more nutty billionaires weren’t nominated.”

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Responding to criticism, Goldberg’s publicist, Brad Cafarelli, said: “Her feeling is ‘Yes, there are certainly problems in the industry, and in the country and world, but the Oscars wasn’t necessarily the place to address that.’

“Nobody could say there isn’t an issue with roles for African Americans and other minorities, but this wasn’t really the time or the place. It’s all about timing and venue. It’s an issue that’s got to be addressed 365 days of the year, not just one night or one week.”

Quincy Jones, the producer of the broadcast, was one of the few seen with a rainbow-colored ribbon, and he repeatedly said he wore it with mixed feelings. While he sympathized with Jackson’s message about exclusion in the industry, Jones felt that the Oscars were not a good target for the protest.

In an interview Tuesday, Jackson said he was not bothered by the comments and that he was very happy at the large number of protesters that turned out in 40 cities around the country to picket ABC stations. ABC broadcast the awards.

“We are at the center of debate,” Jackson said. “Once you raise consciousness, you change behavior. We are very serious about the struggle, and we will win.”

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However, many said the struggle did not experience its finest moment Monday night.

“It’s hard to know why the protest fizzled,” said Patricia Turner, associate professor of African American and African studies at UC Davis and author of “Ceramic Uncles and Celluloid Mammies: Black Images and Their Influence on Culture.”

“Jesse came to the controversy fairly late and it’s hard to organize a protest that fast,” Turner said. “People are a little jaded, no longer willing to follow him as a knee-jerk reaction as they did in the civil rights days. I’ve heard blacks and whites both say he’s an unduly opportunistic man grasping for straws.”

Preston Whitmore, director of “The Walking Dead,” said: “I don’t think the Oscars was the correct forum for him to attack the business of motion pictures. The situation in Hollywood has been this way for the last 10 years. He didn’t speak up 10 years ago. Why is he speaking up now?”

Dates said Jackson went forward without evaluating the importance of the issue to his constituency.

“There was not that groundswell of support from the grass-roots, and it must have seen to Hollywood that Jesse was just out there all by himself,” she said.

Added Kweisi Mfume, president and chief executive officer of the NAACP: “The lesson of all of this is that you can’t affect subjective decisions with objective criteria. I’m convinced that this is a long distance race. Hollywood is not going to be won over overnight.

“The problem is there is a sensitivity in Hollywood,” he added. “When people take offense at a sensitive issue, they dismiss it. There needs to be substantial negotiation and pressure. That is our approach.”

Others in the minority community downplayed the importance of asserting solidarity with Jackson’s cause by wearing a ribbon on one’s lapel.

“I’m not going to add to the fuel that can create a division within the family of black America,” said actor-filmmaker Tim Reid. “I don’t think the issue is Jesse or Whoopi. The issue is the town: This town is sadly lacking in a positive depiction of people of color. . . . There are people in this town who sit back in pleasure and watch us argue among ourselves. I’m not going to take part in that argument.

“Wearing a ribbon is a nice little symbolic gesture,” Reid said, “but I don’t look for ribbons, I look for deeds.”

Staff writers Claudia Puig and Elaine Dutka contributed to this story.