Monster's Mask

             "Monster's Mask" Writing Arguments (2003): 564-565.
             In a letter to the editor of the Seattle Times, Steven Mitchell argues that the 2002 Academy Awards reinforced racism by awarding Oscars to Denzel Washington and Halle Berry for roles that misrepresented the black community. He goes so far as to call it "a backhanded slap in the face to black Americans." (p.56).
             Denzel Washington was awarded the best actor award for his villainous portrayal of a renegade cop in Training Day. According to the author, his character defies statistics, as there are more white cops who behave corruptly than black cops. The deaths of Amadou Diallo and a black sheriff in the south are cited as example of this. So, as argued, racism is encouraged and blacks are portrayed as deviant law officials. By contrast, the author states, Washington's portrayal of Malcolm X in 1992 was not even given an Oscar nomination.
             Halle Berry won best actress for her performance in Monster's Ball as a woman who begins dating a white man who was indirectly responsible for her husband's death. He compares this to Hattie McDaniel's" Gone With the Wind character as both being examples of blacks as sub servants to whites, claiming that there is nothing more subservient than a woman who sleeps with the man who killed her husband. Altogether, these Oscars amount to a denigration of blacks, and gratification to the white movie going public in seeing blacks in roles impossible to respect.
             Now, it must be noted that this is merely a letter to the editor and cannot be expected to be backed up by facts, figures, and reputable quotes. This aside, the argument is a very weak one. He states that whites have more rogue cops than blacks but offers no statistics whatsoever to back this up, merely examples of it. All race groups can be given examples of unethical behavior; it proves nothing. His true ignorance of the situation is proven, though, when he states that Washington's more malevolent performance as Malcolm X was not nominated.