Requested Shirtlessness

During last night's Oscar telecast, the VP of IMS remarked that he thought Bradley Cooper and Gerard Butler should have presented their Oscars shirtless, and I have to say I agree. So here's some shirtless Gerard Butler to make up for the fully dressed evening we had last night. I have to say that I watched my taped preview for next week's B&S before the Oscars as make-up shirtlessness for what I knew would be a fully dressed evening. Since women often reveal a lot of cleavage on these award shows, I wonder if it would be appropriate to suggest to the directors of next year's show that maybe a few of the male presenters could take off their shirts - strictly for ratings.

I enjoyed last night's show in spite of having the same problems with the program that I always do. I don't understand how it is acceptable to cut off people on their speeches at probably the pinnacle of their careers and then force us to watch a montage of horror movie clips. It just doesn't seem right. I'll also say that I was astounded when I realized that Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman ever to win a Best Director statue, and only the fourth to be nominated. It's 2010, folks. Really? I hope that her victory does shatter the celluloid ceiling. Also, Geoffrey Fletcher made history as the first African American to win an Oscar for screenwriting. Again, I am simply amazed by this statistic. Finally, I had a moment of doing a double take when the clip of the technical awards winners was shown since there appeared to be no women or people of color in that group either, a stark reminder of how far we still have to go in having a culture that reflects the actual make-up of our society. I know plenty of artists of color in the business, but I guess we are so worried about making a living, we don't have time to win Oscars. In spite of my amazement, I cried through most of the ceremony and even clapped a few times.

So the shows are back next weekend, and Gilles will definitely be shirtless next week. All is right in the world of shirtlessness, for now. But we must remain vigilant. Until then, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS