The annual Oscar ceremony is one of the only televised events that audiences tune in to before it begins. For some viewers, watching celebrities walk down the red carpet is the highlight of the evening. Seeing beautiful women in low-cut dresses and handsome men in well-tailored tuxes can be more enjoyable than listening to some foreign filmmaker you’ve never heard of accept an award in a category whose short films you’ve never seen.
So why is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences trying to make this experience less entertaining?
Rumors flew over the last few days that the academy had canceled the Oscar tickets it had given to Sacha Baron Cohen. First the Hollywood Reporter ran a story saying that Cohen would walk the red carpet in character. In his upcoming comedy, “The Dictator,” the man whose alter egos include Borat and Ali G plays a Middle Eastern tyrant; the Reporter said Cohen would come to the ceremony dressed as the title character, Admiral General Aladeen.
That’s when the rumor mill went into overdrive — and not without reason. One source told Deadline.com, “Unless they’re assured that nothing entertaining is going to happen on the red carpet, the academy is not admitting Sacha Baron Cohen to the show.”
Yes, that’s right: The academy wants no entertainment during the Oscar pre-show.
Another source has since told the Reporter that Cohen isn’t “banned.” Yet. “We’re just waiting to hear what he’s going to do.”
Cohen came up with a response that might be funnier than anything you’ll see Sunday night — if last year’s ceremony is any indication, anyway.
In a minute-and-a-half-long video on his character’s “official government website,” Cohen’s current alter ego says he is “outraged” that the “Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Zionists” have taken back his tickets. Though, he concedes, he must “applaud the academy for taking away my right to free speech.” But he continues: “I warn you that if you do not lift your sanctions” and return his tickets by midday Sunday, “you will face unimaginable consequences.”
He did open the video with a friendly greeting, though: “Good morning, great Satan of America. How are you? I am fine, thank you.”
The actor — as Aladeen — also appeared on “The Today Show” Friday morning. There he had the hosts in stitches as he explain that he had to delay 30 executions while dealing with the Oscar hubbub.
It’s hard to see how the academy could justify un-gifting Cohen’s tickets. He played an important role, after all, in the film that has the most Oscar nominees this year: “Hugo.”
But it’s not just one actor the academy risks snubbing. It’s the millions of people who will watch the Oscar telecast. After forcing us to sit through a high James Franco and out-of-her-element Anne Hathaway hosting last year, shouldn’t the academy go easy on us this year? Cohen is one of its most talented comedians. Letting him walk the red carpet — however he chooses — is the only way to guarantee laughs.
Kelly Jane Torrance is the Washington Examiner Movie Critic. Her reviews appear weekly and she can be reached at [email protected].
