Tavis Smiley is not to be confused with Aristotle except for footwear and their common struggle with English.
Never one to ignore a yahoo bandwagon, Tavis Frown was a cinch to clamber onto the Donald Trump-ed up all-white Oscars controversy.
Tavis Frown is one of those types who drifts into middle age without having identified his calling.
He is described as the managing editor of “Tavis Smiley on PBS,” the only network hiring cultural misfits at the time.
Naturally, Tavis Frown comes to the stage – in this case as a USA Today op-ed contributor – with an unoriginal grievance, otherwise known as the cornerstone of his career.
As he poses five questions en route to an unimaginative conclusion (“Hollywood can do better” – how incisive), Mr. Frown asks:
- Have you considered why black “folk” are succeeding in music but not in film? (He prefers the sloppy, erroneous colloquial “folk” because it makes him sound more down-home.) He reaches no conclusion.
- Does black talent matter to Hollywood? He decides it does for a select few.
- How can Hollywood be so liberal but seem blind to the fact that excellence in film comes in all colors? He is baffled, answerless.
- Is being snubbed by the Academy the real problem? Snubbing occurs because, unlike white actors, just a few favored “people of color” are deemed hirable.
Are black figureheads the answer? Speaking as one who has been a black first, being the first black to achieve an honor is meaningless, Tavis Frown concludes, unless it effects authentic change. Finally, a sensible response.
