I am floored. Shocked. Disappointed.
This week I was planning on bringing you yet another fabulous recap of this past week’s biggest moments in pop culture, from the Superbowl (Shakira and JLo <3) to the Iowa Caucuses (no), to the State of the Union (NO) to the end of the impeachment trial (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO), but the injustice that occurred at the Oscars this past week warrants my singular attention.
Maybe you saw Joaquin Phoenix take home an Oscar for his role as the Joker in the film Joker last night. That was the point during the Academy Awards at which I shut off the television, curled into a ball, and SCREAMED until the eleven o’clock and thirty minute hour, at which point I knew my terror was finally over. Over until next year. Another year of mourning until I will inevitably be disappointed once again.
Phoenix’s win has me asking the same question I have been posing for the 17 years since the film has come out: where is the long overdue justice for Adam Sandler’s whirlwind of a performance in Peter Segal’s 2003 film Anger Management?
Maybe you prefer Adam Sandler as Howard Ratner in 2019’s Uncut Gems, but I know him best as the cynical and down-on-his-luck David Buznik, a character riddled with childhood trauma and an inferiority complex that won’t quit. Sandler brings an undeniable level of emotional nuance to a character who initially believes that he is struggling against a number of unfortunate situations, but eventually realizes he is actually struggling with managing his anger, as the title of the film suggests. Sandler’s success in the character development of Buznik is a testament to the transformative power of overcoming trauma – a performance so inspiring it is unlike any other I have seen at this level of cinema. To deprive him of an award for his work for the SEVENTEENTH year in a row is an unfathomable crime against the profession of acting itself.
The screenplay is Segal’s masterpiece: a complex journey through understanding one’s own relationship with anger that David navigates with the help of his irreverent therapist Dr. Buddy Rydell, played by Jack Nicholson. The film concludes with a plot twist that rivals the plot twist in Parasite, which, incidentally, is the only film on this year’s slate this year that I’ve seen. And YES, I have only seen Parasite, but that doesn’t change the fact that Joker is a shit “film” (if you can even call it that) that can rot in hell!
I know what you’re thinking: Is she saying that a film from 2003 deserves to win Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, or Best Actor at the 2020 Academy Awards? Or is she vouching for it to win…everything?
It is at this point that I will invite you all to go watch the film and make up your mind for yourselves. The work will speak for itself.
So, ONCE AGAIN, for your consideration, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Adam Sandler in Anger Management as “Best Actor” for the 2021 Academy Awards. It is the LEAST you could do.
(Anger Management also less incel-y than Joker. Dave Buznik had a damn MICROPENIS and he didn’t turn into a violent murderer, and that should be enough for you!)
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