Twitter furious after Oscars cuts away from presenter Marlee Matlin
- 27 Apr 2021
The 93rd Academy Awards are being trolled on Twitter for cutting away from hearing-impaired actress Marlee Matlin during her speech.
Matlin, the only performer with her condition to have won an Oscar was one of the presenters this year, and was signing her speech along with an interpreter when the telecast cut her midway.
A huge uproar has followed on Twitter, with people commenting that it was rude on the part of the Oscars to pan the camera away from her when she was signing.
A user posted: “And they didn’t subtitle when Marlee Matlin was sign-presenting *off camera*. That made no sense at all,” while another wrote: “When @MarleeMatlin signs, we want to see her. There’s technology called picture-in-picture, #Oscars, that would have enable that.”
“Wow #oscars so rude to cut away from Marlee Matlin like that. Whose brilliant idea was that?” another user wrote. “Crip Camp losing was not surprising given that minutes before cameras cut away from a signing Marlee Matlin while she was mid sentence. Just another reminder of how the Academy devalues disabled voices.
CrippingTheRedCarpet #OscarsDISs,” posted an irked Twitter user, while another wrote: “Marlee Matlin has the rare opportunity to sign while presenting a couple of categories at the Oscars, and they cut immediately to the nominees with no split or reduced screen, cutting out her signing for the most of her presentation... y’all #Oscars,” tweeted a user.
Matlin looked stunning at the ceremony in a black sequin Vivienne Westwood gown, made with sustainable fabric.
The actress won an Oscar for the 1986 film “Children Of A Lesser God.”
Marlee is an American actress, author, and deaf activist. To date she is the only deaf performer to have won an Academy Award. Having won the award at the age of 21, she is also the youngest winner in the category. Her work in film and television has resulted in a Golden Globe award, with two additional nominations, and four Emmy nominations.
Deaf since she was 18 months old, due to illness and high fevers, she is also a prominent member of the National Association of the Deaf. Her longtime interpreter is Jack Jason.
The 93rd Academy Awards wasn’t exactly a movie, but it was a show made for people who love learning about movies. And it stubbornly, defiantly wasn’t trying to be anything else.
It wasn’t an advertisement for the nominated films that audiences at home may or may not have seen, a well-heeled stand-up routine or a star-studded concert. Although it did, curiously, turn into a brief musical trivia game 2 hours and 40 minutes into the evening.
Best actress winner Frances McDormand said later upon collecting her trophy that, “They didn’t ask me but if they had, I would have said karaoke.” There probably would have been fewer bleeps.
It was a show unlike any others this year and if you didn’t have a working knowledge of the films going into the night, the ceremony may have been a little mystifying.
Agencies
