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    LordBurleighGabrielle Bluestone
    2/20/15 12:57am

    Surely you don't mean to insinuate that Hollywood is a system built on white privilege, insider influence, and self-important self-promotion?

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      insinuendoLordBurleigh
      2/20/15 12:59am

      I have trouble following this article. What exactly did she do? She was great in Precious and I don't understand how winning an award for it could ruin her like it apparently did.

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      Emily_8361insinuendo
      2/20/15 1:02am

      Because she didn't play the Oscar campaign game. See Hathaway, Anne.

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    BurnJohnBurnGabrielle Bluestone
    2/20/15 1:34am

    Anyone who's ever worked with Mo'Nique or her team will understand Lee Daniels' frustration. Talented? Yes. Difficult? Definitely. She demands that she be paid in full in cash up front at the beginning of every job, otherwise she won't show up on set. She says she demands respect but her out of touch demands demonstrate her lack of respect.

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      BETgruntBurnJohnBurn
      2/20/15 2:40am

      I can confirm this. AND she didn't tell us this until after she showed up and demanded the same for her hair and makeup people. This happened on a Sunday. FML.

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      Denzel WashyourtongueBurnJohnBurn
      2/20/15 2:42am

      Why is that an issue when you're involved with people who will cheat you any chance they get?

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    Defender90CAGabrielle Bluestone
    2/20/15 1:03am

    Did she refuse to do the press they wanted her to do at all or was she making "demands"in terms of money/accommodations/entourage that were beyond the pale?

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      Free Market Party CompanyDefender90CA
      2/20/15 1:29am

      From the stories I've seen, both.

      Look, they don't call it show BUSINESS for nothing. No, you can't just perform, you need to take part in promoting as well. She was brilliant (and terrifying, frankly) in Precious, and absolutely deserving of the Oscar, but that doesn't mean you sit back and wait for the world to come to you.

      Gabourey Sidibe has been working since and doesn't seem to present the same difficulties.

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      heywhatDefender90CA
      2/20/15 2:00am

      She had a talk show at the time and wanted to be paid to do interviews because a press tour would take her away from shooting the show. I understand why she wanted to be paid since campaigning for an Oscar would have meant she wouldn't be getting paid for her show but it rubbed people the wrong way.

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    JohnTChanceGabrielle Bluestone
    2/20/15 1:09am

    "I thought, once you won the award, that's the top prize — and so you're supposed to be treated as if you got the top prize."

    F. Murray Abraham says this to himself every night before bed.

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      matt.maraJohnTChance
      2/20/15 2:41am

      This F. Murray Abraham?

      Why yes, that is him in Star Trek: Insurrection. Which was, as a whole, a very good Star Trek film. But he was a terrible actor in it.

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      Turdington Jonesmatt.mara
      2/20/15 8:54am

      I thought 'Insurrection' was a terrible film. It was a fine two-parter episode, but if I'm dropping $10+ dollars on a movie, I want more than a glorified episode. The only really good TNG film that actually felt like a damn movie was First Contact.

      /end nerd rant

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    blackoakGabrielle Bluestone
    2/20/15 1:28am

    "(Winning an Oscar) should come with more respect, more choices and more money. It should, and it normally does."

    It should, and it makes some sense that it would, but does it normally? What is the so-called "Oscar Curse" folks always talk about (for all I know it has nothing to do with this, it just seems to get mentioned often)?

    (Also, not really important overall, but I am not sure using Oprah Winfrey as an example of not getting work is a good example of the Blacklisting issue. I cannot imagine Oprah does not every acting job she seeks, regardless of who else might be up for it.)

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      matt.marablackoak
      2/20/15 2:46am

      (Also, not really important overall, but I am not sure using Oprah Winfrey as an example of not getting work is a good example of the Blacklisting issue. I cannot imagine Oprah does not every acting job she seeks, regardless of who else might be up for it.)

      Yeah, but I'm sure when she ponies up significant amounts of money she gets to play actress. See also: Brad Pitt in 12 Years a Slave.

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      matt.maramatt.mara
      2/20/15 2:46am

      And by "play actress" I mean she couldn't act her way out of a paper bag. She sucks as an actress, is what you should take away from that.

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    MizJenkinsGabrielle Bluestone
    2/20/15 2:31am

    Could someone explain to me what "campaigning" for an Oscar entails?

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      Dan SeitzMizJenkins
      2/20/15 6:23am

      Lots of press appearances, ass-kissing, hand-shaking, TV interviews, the usual.

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      Governor McCheeseMizJenkins
      2/20/15 8:56am

      Remember when Jennifer Lawrence went on all those talk-shows and acted folksy and personable and revealed all of her expertly-crafted and finely-tuned foibles, and then she won the Oscar? That might have been the best example of an Oscar campaign in recent memory.

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    FaetheGabrielle Bluestone
    2/20/15 1:03am

    Her demands through Precious were not always in line with the campaign.

    Would love to know what that means, exactly.

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      lunchcomaFaethe
      2/20/15 1:26am

      She very bluntly stated during awards season that she was only willing to show up events if she received an appearance fee and that it the movie had a budget for an Oscar campaign, it had a budget for that. The request is apparently not in keeping with normal expectations - actors don't always campaign for Oscars, but it's apparently understood that Oscars events aren't something they're paid for.

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      GregSamsaFaethe
      2/20/15 1:30am

      Film is a campaign and not an art.

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    DanysangGabrielle Bluestone
    2/20/15 1:32am

    MO'NIQUE IS KATNISS: She won the hunger games, but she didn't do it the way the game makers wanted her to. Now she is being punished by Hollywood(the capitol) for threatening to eat the "berries" by talking out, and not campaigning the right way for her award. They are pissed she won just like Snow.

    This is all I gathered.


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      Dipe CheckDanysang
      2/20/15 2:44am

      You must be as high as I am because that makes SO much sense!! Not even joking!

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      MyHonestOpinionDanysang
      2/20/15 8:33am

      Good call. But at least Katniss was in 3 more movies :)

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    PeabodyHereGabrielle Bluestone
    2/20/15 10:00am

    Contrast Mo'Nique with Katherine Hepburn. Discuss.

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      GDSmithPeabodyHere
      2/20/15 11:22am

      Both were reputedly difficult to work with, and hesitant about doing publicity (though for different reasons: one was extremely private, the other wanted more money for doing things everyone else does without demanding to be paid).

      On the other hand, one was immensely talented, the greatest female film star in history and winner of 4 oscars. The other is MoNique.

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      PeabodyHereGDSmith
      2/20/15 12:00pm

      Kate not only would not campaign for Oscars, she never attended a ceremony.

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    lindyhop94Gabrielle Bluestone
    2/20/15 2:02am

    was it Bill Murray that said when your star hits you only get to be a asshole for about a year then you better come back to earth if you want to continue to work. She probably burned that memo

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      Wishbone of Arclindyhop94
      2/20/15 2:42am

      Keep in mind that Bill Murray is speaking from the perspective of a white man.

      The ability to be an asshole and still get jobs is not a luxury that everyone is afforded. For some groups of people, behavior and employability is inextricably linked.

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      LBJeffriesWishbone of Arc
      2/20/15 3:09am

      I'll say, first, that I do not in any way doubt white male privilege, but I do think that in the instance of Hollywood asshole rights, those are exclusively granted to the specifically talented or, more accurately, the superlatively popular and in-demand. Plenty of people of color in entertainment for whatever period of time that they are capable of reliably scoring an audience have been able to demand the moon and act like a dickhead while doing it. The equation Murray is talking about usually involves "the talent" becoming easier to work with in direct proportion to their dwindling ability to draw a large crowd.

      In the case of Mo'Nique, it might just be that, while she delivered a worthy performance in Precious, her particular brand of talent and skill set was not singular enough to warrant the headache that comes with hiring her.

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