Oscar audience silence deafening

KUDOS AND THANKS to Santa Fe resident Wes Studi for what many of us consider the best moment at this year’s Oscars show.

If you missed the show, you missed what had to be the most embarrassing moment in Oscar history. No, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway actually presented the Best Picture award to the correct winner this year, so that wasn’t it or even close. The most embarrassing moment came when Hollywood called upon veteran actor Wes Studi to present a salute to veterans by showing clips from some of the most famous war movies ever made. If you don’t know the name Wes Studi, you know his face if you’ve ever watched a Western. Wes is a full-blooded Cherokee from Oklahoma who has been Hollywood’s “go to” actor whenever a chief who speaks Cherokee is needed — think “Dances With Wolves” — in a Western.

Wes mentioned his service in Vietnam with 3/39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, and then asked “Anyone else?” The silence was deafening! Not one person in the audience claimed to be a veteran!

Way to go Hollywood. Yet another forgettable moment. Fifty years ago a large segment of that audience would have proudly stood and applauded. Times have changed.

DAVE COULIE Albuquerque