While Fr. Jonathan Morris is the Fox liaison between the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Fox News' conservative Catholic viewers, Mike Huckabee provides the same connection between evangelical Christianity and Fox's other principal religious demographic, the Protestant religious right. Thus, it's not surprising that Huckabee would be part of Fox's ongoing propaganda-thon (five shows in total) regarding the rescinding of an Oscar nomination for a song from an evangelical Christian movie. The religious right are positively apoplectic because this song was (to use the Fox lexicon) "yanked" after the songwriter broke the Oscar rules by lobbying the Oscar's branch members on behalf of his song. Last Saturday, Huckabee interviewed the song's singer who was also interviewed on this week's Kelly Files. It was pretty much same old, same old propaganda with a little community organizing thrown in for good measure.
Huckebee followed the playbook:
- He started the show with music from the film.
- He didn't mention the specific rules broken by the songwriter.
- He dismissed the songwriter's actions as something done all the time by Oscar nominees.
- He asked why this song "is singled out."
- He suggested that the reason for the Oscar's action was anti-Christian bigotry.
- He used the term "yanked" (several times) for the rescinding of the nomination.
During his interview with the song's singer, Joni Eareckson Tada, he dramatically described, as did Megyn Kelly, how after the song was nominated it was "suddenly" pulled from the nomination. As did Kelly, he asked if the song was nixed because it was faith based. A grinning Huckabee noted that because of the controversy, the film is getting more publicity (thank you Fox News) and, in comparing it to a bible story, speculated that God is using this controversy "for good."
But at the end of the piece, Huckabee went a step further in asking the audience to download the song on I-Tunes, because that will force people "to sit up and take notice." He then advised the viewers to go to the Oscars website and, he leaned into the camera, "let the Academy know what you think."
Okaaay....If the responses are anything like we see on Fox Nation, I'm sure the Academy will be really impressed ;)
Given that this movie didn’t make any money on its first release, it’s clearly the hope of its supporters that they can use the publicity of this mess to get the hard right wing evangelicals to flock to see it either on DVD or if it can get another theatrical run. The mock concern you’re seeing on Fox News has little to do with changing anything at the Academy. They’re aware they can’t do anything on that front. But they can try to take this moral position of disapproving of the Academy, while they promote this movie. It’s more than a bit disingenuous. And they don’t have a moral leg to stand on.
Link to the complete rules of submission of songs. Post it in all social media.
http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/rules/86/rule15.html
NOTE TO HUCKY
The entertainment side of 21st Century Fox understands the rules. Why don’t you? Stick to the pulpit.
That Broughton or whatever his name is no stranger to odd goings on with the Oscars and other things Hollywood, either. Kind of a goof. So say the Hollywood dirt sheets, anyway.
Furthermore, FoxNoise viewers can get upset all they want but it’s not going to make the least bit of difference, unless they’re Academy voters (Rule 5, Paragraph 1). And even if they are Academy voters, write-ins are still not allowed. (I’m guessing that even if all the “outraged” Academy voters were to write in the song’s name, those votes would simply not count. And I’d also guess that the Academy ballots are sent out in a multi-page format—with each award on a separate sheet. I don’t know for certain since that information isn’t provided that I can find at the Oscar website. But if that is how it’s done, a write-in vote could likely be thrown in the garbage without affecting the rest of the voter’s ballot.)
Full details about Rule 5 cand be found at http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/rules/86/rule05.html