A little Oscar buzz

Well, I watched the Oscar ceremony last night and thought that there were good moments and bad moments.  I wasn't impressed with Chris  Rock and evidently neither was Shaun King.  Someone needs to tell Chris that when he's speaking about diversity he's speaking about many, many peoples and not just black people.  His comment after Sam Smith's acceptance speech indicates he doesn't believe LGBT people should be included.  Bringing 3 little Asian-American kids on stage as the punchline for a racist joke was detestable.  And making a joke about Rhianna's panties and a party there?  When did sexist behavior become a pillar of diversity?  Oh, and a grandmother hanging by a rope?  No class there.
Anyway, some of the show was really good.  Some presenters were passable, some were great.  I thought the bit between Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe put the others to shame.  The two reminded me of Abbott and Costello - their routines were sharp, smart and sounded spontaneous.  Gosling and Crowe did the same thing.
I thought Sam Smith's performance was very good.  A lot of people are saying that Lady Gaga's was the best - I wish she would have just sang the song instead of spasming every couple of beats in an attempt to create drama.
I was really surprised that Tom Hardy didn't win for The Revenant.  I thought he was far and away the best part of that movie.  Of course, DiCaprio won and his speech was fine until he hit the part about global warning.  When he noted that they had to move filming down to southern Chile in order to get the right amount of snow, he failed to add that when they were filming up in the Vancouver area it was during the summer and that's why there wasn't a large enough snow pack.  When it's summer in the Northern Hemisphere it's going to be winter in the Southern Hemisphere, which means there's going to be a lot more snow in the Chilean Andes then there is in the Rockies.  What a horses ass.

And, of course, the Picture of the Year was Spotlight.  Academy voters gave the award to a film they felt to be socially relevant.  They want to be seen as artistic rather then commercialistic, so while The Revenant was seen as artistic, it made way too much money and therefore became irrelevant.  A film about investigating the cover up of child abuse by the Catholic church, however, fit the bill.  So, my advice to black actors who want to get nominated is this: get cast in a socially relevant film that doesn't do too well at the box office.  Remember Precious?  That was a big hit with Academy voters. 

Gods of Egypt - Rising above

I saw Gods of Egypt last night... and liked it, of course I didn't for over my money to see moments of great drama between Gerard Butler and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and I didn't buy my popcorn anticipating dialogue so steeped in logic Spock would have been enthralled, in fact some of it's a bit absurd, but that's okay.  It's a fun movie.  There's a lot of complaining about the CGI - well, there is a lot of it, but it's all been produced by top notch CGI units, so get over it.  Have you noticed that people always seem to complain about the CGI in movies heavy with it?  And not all of the reviews coming out are bad.  There was this in The Atlantic, and this in The Guardian, and of course this from the NYT; I like the bit comparing it to the "art-filled exploitation film The Revenant."
And then, of course, there is the whining about it being 'white-washed.'  I hate to break it to people, but not every film produced is going to have a minority in the lead.  If that were the case 'Carol' fails terribly - no minorities, and 'Room' - no minorities, and 'The Revenant' - no minorities... well, at least none of consequence.  But then those are serious films, right, and the 'no minority' objection doesn't apply, right?  But this is a hot-button issue right now so everybody who wants to be anybody is jumping on board and pressing it.  In other words, people are judging this movie with their baggage already packed.
I liked it. So did my friend.  There's a lot of action in it.  And, of course, a very large Nikolai Coster-Waldau.

But then everybody wants to be a critic and I don't know why.  If you spend all your time looking for flaws, you're going to start finding them everywhere.  Millions and millions of people who have never made a movie in their life, and have no clue as to how to even start, are trying to tell Hollywood what needs to be done, and what needs to be fixed.  In fact, too many people are too busy trying to point out what's wrong.  The Gods of Egypt is a fun movie.  It has no pretensions, so don't go looking for any.  

Rotten Apple

There's a lot of chat going on right now about Apple and whether the tech giant should help the FBI.  I can sort of see their side... but we're talking about terrorists here, and the message Apple is sending out to the world, to all terrorist groups is "you're data is safe with us."  Evidently with Apple's new encryption software the FBI has only 10 attempts to crack the code before the phone goes into permanent lock down.  If I were Tim Cook, I'd have done it on the sly, of course he didn't.  And it isn't just terrorist groups that now know their data is safe, hate groups too can now feel secure that their conversations are protected.  When I read this article my inner voice started chanting "this is not good."  Apple's had hundreds of requests for help and has denied every one.  To put this into some perspective, say you and your husband go out to a movie and stop off for a drink on the way back to your car... and say you are attacked by 4 homophobes with baseball bats and they beat the shit out of you... and the only thing left at the scene of the crime are your broken bodies and a battered Iphone.  Apple is not going to help solve this crime.  Nope, absolutely not.

This is just not the right message to send to the world.  If you're bad and you do bad things, you shouldn't be protected by Apple.

Gods of Egypt vs Risen, both so white

The Gods of Egypt starts this weekend and I'll probably go see it, not because it's great drama or that the acting is going to be superlative.  Nope, this is a CGI fest with lots of half-naked men running around, and a babe or two thrown in for the straight crowd.  People who got see this movie are not supposed to leave the theater scratching their heads, nor are they supposed to be pondering the meanings of life.  They're going to be wowed by special effects (and half-naked men running around).  What I find funny is that I was looking at My New Plaid Pants where it was pointed out that the cast was so white... well, so what.  If you're going to point that out in regard to The Gods of Egypt, you should also point out that Risen has a very white cast.  In fact, Risen stars that very white, very British Joseph Fiennes.... as a Roman.  He looks Italian, doesn't he?  Of course, Krazy Kristians around the world will see it as a religious documentary so accuracy is not important.  Is it?

You would think that if you were trying to tell the true story of the resurrection, you would at least hire middle-eastern actors to play the parts of the disciples.  But then, of course, you might lose the white audience of America, those who believe that Jesus had blue eyes and light brown hair.

If you're going to throw out that race trump card, it needs to be done uniformly.  You can't pick and chose.  Risen is going to make a lot more money than God's of Egypt because more people are going to be seeing it.  So which one should you be pointing your finger at?

Paint... the final frontier

Well, maybe not... actually, not even close.  I did see something interesting on Customer Satisfaction earlier, so I'm posting a link.  I know people aren't really satisfied.  I talk to them daily.  Having associates who do their job well, helps.  When you have one who consistently drops the ball... that's another story.  I have one - he's the nicest person you ever met but slow as molasses in January.  And mistakes?  ooohhhh   He has sheen problems, a customer asks for semi-gloss and he mixes flat.  There are other issues as well.  Like I gave him a paint label, showed him the can of paint it needed to go on and... he put it on the wrong can... and, of course, the customer said "this is not the paint I ordered."  Instead of mixing 2 gallons for 2 people, he mixed 3 gallons for 2 people and we ended up writing off one of those gallons, simply because he put the wrong label on the wrong can.

When you talk to him, which I've done several times, his response is always that he must have gotten distracted.  He gets distracted easily.  In fact, all you have to do is wave and say "hi" to him and you'll throw him off.  These problems are going to show up on his review.  I'm going to see if I can get him moved to a department where he doesn't cost the store money.  As I said, he's a nice guy, however I had to write off over $300 in paint last week because of his mistakes.  Perhaps I can get him moved to Hardware where all he has to do is sell nail, and nailers and deck screws.

Meanwhile... back on the ranch

Well, I saw Jeb dropped out.  This was inevitable.  He was milquetoast next to Trump's racism and bigotry.  He came across as perhaps a nice guy, even though he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, and the Republican base is looking for a nasty boy.  More then anything else, however, he was George W's brother.  That really hurt him.  No one in the Bush family seemed to know their name is scarred worse then Ryan Reynold's ass in Deadpool.  Of course, they're super rich so there is a lot they don't understand.  They don't understand the repercussions of having one of the worst presidents in American history standing prominently in their family tree.
So, one wonders what Jeb's doing now that his hours of free time have just increased... dramatically.  Wouldn't surprise me if he didn't stop by the Crawford ranch.  You know?  Where W lives?  And maybe pay is big brother a visit.  And somehow, I don't think they're going to be going on a run together.

In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he tried to put a womp on his older brother.  Give him a couple of jabs upside his head, all the while screaming "idiot! idiot! idiot!"  Let's face it, Jeb was the one they were grooming for the presidency and W was the one who shit their hopes away like Montezuma's Revenge.  Of course, I may be wrong, the brothers may have a nice run as Jeb chases after W with a baseball bat, all the while screaming "idiot! idiot! idiot!"

 

Diazepam and me

I saw this article yesterday about people overdosing on certain meds and thought to myself, I know exactly why that's happening.  It's their primary physicians.  I know this because I am the perfect example, not that I overdosed, but... well....
Almost a year ago I developed a recurring back ache.  I figured I'd been hoisting too many 5 gallon buckets of paint, still I thought I should go see my primary physician.  They guy I'd seen for years had retired and I ended up with someone who didn't know me.  She prescribed Diazepam as a muscle relaxer and me, not knowing what it was, filled the prescription.  Now I don't do drugs, meds or otherwise; no wine, no cigarettes, no booze - nada, and I told her this and she smiled.  The first tablet I took was fine, however, about three hours after taking the 2nd, I started falling down.  I would just fall over; standing one minute, on the floor the next.  I scared the shit out of the dogs.  One of my first falls was out the back door, down three stairs and shoulder first on to the concrete patio.  This was not a good thing.  I fell 6 times in one day - a very bad thing.
And then I lost all of the strength in my right leg.

I ended up going to an Orthopedic Specialist who, after lots of testing, diagnosed me with severe arthritis in my back.  Diazepam is a head drug and should not be used a a muscle relaxer.  In fact, it should be used sparingly since, it, and Valium, it's name brand, are very addictive.  And stupid doctors prescribe them for everything.  Cut back on the number of prescriptions you write and then number of overdoses will drop.

Today I am fine, though it seems I now will have a lifetime prescription to Naproxin (Aleve).  If this doctor had simply prescribed that a rest, I wouldn't have missed 3 months of work, I wouldn't have had to spend around $15,000 of my own money.  This is not a miracle med.  It is addictive.  And if you get drunk on it, you may accidentally overdose.

Deadpool rising

It's been one of those weeks, if you know what I mean.  I had to deal with a customer who called Corporate and complained about one of my associates - never a fun thing.  The claim was that my associate treated her so rudely, this customer probably would never shop with us again.  So, I called her and arraigned for her to come in the next time I worked, and of course she lied, and she lied another time two days later when she bought the most expensive paint we offer and wanted it at the lowest price possible.  And though she's now sitting smugly at home thinking she pulled one over on us, she's been red-flagged in the system.
Anyway, I went to see Deadpool last night.  I was impressed as, evidently, quite a few other people have been since it appears to be raking in money.  It's very funny, lots of one liners, so many in fact you really have to pay attention to what's being said - that's a good point, the audience stays focused.

I like the fact that's it's geared for an adult audience rather then a family audience, I'm not 14 so don't treat me like I am.  In spite of the fact that at times it plays like a comedy, this film takes itself very seriously.  I thought that the drama of a late stage cancer diagnosis was juxtaposed against Deadpool's revenge nearly seamlessly, and the mutation scenes definitely did not have a Saturday matinee family audience in mind when they were filmed.  It has bad language, nudity, and violence.  What else could I ask for after dealing with a blonde bimbo trying to rip me off at the store?

Elizabeth Warren and the Zombie Apocalypse

Right now the Republicans are running scared.  They believe they're in the middle of Zombie Apocalypse.  They're terrified the walking dead will soon be gnawing at their bones... except it isn't the walking dead, it's us... we the people: Democrats, Independents, Progressives, Moderates, a majority of the American Peoples.  Their Armageddon is upon them and they're going to go down fighting, no matter how bad they look.  Could Scalia's death be the final nail in their coffin?  Well, it could be.  When Elizabeth Warren, a calm, forceful presence, says they are debasing the Constitution by waiting, and praying, that they get a Republican President in the next election she makes them look as childish and petty.  Remember when Ted Cruz read Dr. Seus?  The GOP base loved it, while the majority of Americans thought "what a dick."  Well, out of desperation, they're doing it on an even grander scale.  They are crapping on the Constitution they claim to love so dearly, and they're doing it because when they look out their windows all they see are the walking dead.

What they don't realize is that it is they, themselves, who are the walking dead, stumbling through an election year praying the next president is a Republican.  And, well, if it does happen to be a Democratic president (again) they're all going to be eating shit sandwiches.  That's what stupid people do.  Can't you just picture Mitch McConnell's face as the server ask him "open-faced, with gravy on top?" 

How do you solve a problem like Scalia?

His sudden death does create a dilemma for the GOP because they have stalwartly stomped their foot down on any and all nominations put forth by Obama even though there are 339 days left until the next president takes office.  You see, they loved Scalia's narrow, tunnel vision conservatism and without his negative voice on anything remotely moderate they are lost.  And so they are praying that by shutting the door on a new Supreme Court Judge until the next president takes office, and praying even harder that the next president is a Republican, then maybe, perhaps, they might not lose that negativity.  Of course this makes them look bad, but when as that bothered them.  They are not concerned about what's best for the country, what's right according to the constitution, nope, they're more concerned about themselves and their inability to change.

So, how do you solve a problem like Scalia?  How do you get your cake and eat it too?  You do what he would have done.  You say "no!"  Unfortunately for the GOP all Obama needs to do is nominate moderate judges, moderate judges of color, moderate females, moderate males of any and all religious affiliations.  Moderation is the word.  You see every time they say "no," the corner they're painting themselves into gets smaller.  And the nomination of a moderately conservative judge?  Well, would you really want a president who's only interested in satisfying 28% of the American voters?  I mean, they can't even come halfway.  So, by dying suddenly, Scalia has handed them a plate of shit and, of course, they're not going to eat it, and they're not going to wipe the plate clean, they're just going to stare at it praying that as time goes by it disappears.

Odom's trash

I saw that Lamar Odom has made his first public appearance since overdosing in a whorehouse.
That tidbit of news actually made the Celebrity section of some major news outlets... get serious.  This guy overdosed in a whorehouse.  Am I the only one who believes he is like one of The Walking Dead, but made of trash instead?  He is pretty worthless.  Now I know some people like to have a healthy ration of trash on a regular basis, but I don't think this is healthy.  Evidently it doesn't bother him that when people see him walking down the street they're going to say "look, there goes that asshole who overdosed in a whorehouse."

I mean, if you find Trash fascinating, at least you could stick with the Palin family, they're all dumb as bricks, and get in to beer brawls, and have multiple children out of wedlock, but so far not one of them has overdosed in a whorehouse, gone into a coma, and possibly suffered permanent brain damage... or did I miss a bit of white trash news?

Not feeling the Bern here

I didn't watch the Democratic debate last evening between The Bern and Hil because... well, I don't watch debates.  I read stuff on the Internet instead; positive stuff and negative stuff.  Some people don't the negative stuff; they don't like thinking there might be little holes in their balloon.  No, they want their balloon to lift them up, and up, and up.  They want to be starry eyed over their candidates and believe the words falling from their lips are silver.  What these people really need to do is look at the tarnish and understand that it's a flaw.
Let's face it, even though you may not want to believe it, Hilary has more suits of matching luggage and steamer trunks then Beyonce, and that's a lot of baggage.  If she gets the nomination you can be the Republicans are going to unpack every single piece of it and there will be nothing private about her privates.
As for Bernie?  He's just too old.  He'll be 75 years old when we vote for president.  That would make him the oldest president ever elected, by 6 years.  Right now the oldest man ever elected president was that Republican god, Ronald Reagan.  Believe me, the Republicans will attack his age relentlessly.  There will be a constant stream of Senior Citizens decrying a Bernie Sanders presidency, saying his age is a debilitating factor.  It doesn't make a difference whether you like his message or not, his age makes him fairly unelectable.

While the odds of Hil beating Trump (the assumed Republican candidate) are very good; they're the same age.  If it's Trump against Bernie the odds are favoring Trump as Commander in Chief, and we know what kind of freaking mess that would bring.

Dansing around a problem

I like to play video games, a lot, and right now I'm playing my way through Fallout 4 which takes place in Massachusetts 200 years after the great nuclear war of 2077.  When writing a game, the writers use a spreadsheet similar to this:

The story line shifts and changes as the main character goes on different quests and meets different characters, some of whom can be come his companion.  Now companions enhance the main characters abilities to do a lot of things:  some companions make it easier to find food, some to pick locks, and others may help with your fighting abilities.  Believe it or not, you can even romance some of them.  Mass Effect 3 was the first game in which there was same sex romance, how about that.

Anyway, I don't play games the way writers write them, sequentially.  I move around the map in a very nonconformist way.  As a result I didn't get to the Cambridge Police Station until rather late in the game, which means I didn't meet up with Paladin Danse until recently, and it turns out he's a good companion.  He even dresses up well.

Paladin Danse

And, unfortunately, I'm now involved in a quest in which his survival is at stake, and even though I make the game as individual as I can, I'm still forced to follow the path the writers laid out.  So now I'm Dansing through my few remaining choices just to keep him alive.  I may just have to dump my last 4 hours of game play in order to get to his personal quest sooner.

One bright spot in Hail Caesar

Well, I went to see "Hail, Caesar" last evening... and, while I don't think it deserved a C- Cinemascore, I would recommend you wait until it starts streaming on demand if you feel the need to watch it.  The biggest problem was that there was too much George Clooney thinking he's being funny and really just being boring... really, really boring.  Even though his story line sets up the movie, you don't care for it... at all.  The Channing Tatum dance number used extensively in all of the trailers doesn't happen until halfway through the 3rd act, in fact, you don't even meet his character until then.  The only story line to have any interest is that of Hobie Doyle, the singing cowboy played by Alden Ehrenreich, who suddenly finds himself cast as a suave, debonair lead.

His scenes are not only funny, you like him as a person.  If the Coen's had relied far less on Clooney and scaled up the Hobie Doyle story they probably would have had a much better movie, one that was funny all the way through, rather then just here and there, but they're friends with George, and they probably think he's hysterical.  He isn't.

The Superbowl and Me

Today is Superbowl Sunday, I know this because yesterday and today you could "wear your favorite jersey to work," and I also had a female customer yesterday who asked "which team are you rooting for?"  You should have seen the look of incredulity on her face when I told her I don't watch football, in fact it was almost as if I'd turned into one of Donald Trump's Mexicans.  I explained that I really like cycling, given the Tour de France, making sure I pronounce France with an American accent just to make sure she didn't think I'd suddenly turned into one of Donald Trumps hated French Mexicans.  Her response?  She said "oh," picked up her paint and walked away.
Honestly, I haven't watched a football game in years and years and years; the sport just doesn't interest me.  Yet Americans seem to think you need to pick a team, root for one side or the other, and buy all sorts of happy horseshit clothing to show your support.  If you don't, they will give you a sideways glance as though you're an embarrassment; not quite as true, blue an American as you should be.  It's the same sort of glance Republicans give Independents, as though their patriotism is somewhat phony.

Anyway, the Superbowl is never really quite what it's supposed to be, a playoff between the two best teams in America.  Nah, it's more about commercials.  It's about throwing a party.  Eats and drinks, and maybe feeling a little too hungover to go to work the next day.  There's a half-time show that doesn't really dazzle when you watch it on TV, and ever since Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson's pastie is very, very PG rated.  Who cares?  I don't.

What am I doing this evening?  Going to see 'Hail, Caesar.'  I'm gong to find out if it's a droll as it's C- Cinemascore says it is.

Minimum wage dilema

There are a lot of people out there who feel the minimum wage in this country needs to be increased, and I agree... somewhat.  You have to remember to treat those associates who've already been working at a lower rate of pay.  Here's a perfect example.  The large retailer I work for just increased the starting cashier rate by $1.75 an hour.  Not everybody thinks it fair, however.  Last night I overheard conversation between a Head Cashier and another cashier.  The Head Cashier was complaining that she'd been with company for 3 years and only got a .02 increase, which put her up to the new starting rate.  She is very, very unhappy.  In fact, what she said was "I've been in these trenches for 3 years, dealing with freaking customers for 3 years, and all I got was 2 fucking cents."

Of course, nobody wants to deal with this problem.  Say you've been working for a company for 5 years and they raise their starting rate and bring in new hires, who need to be trained, at the same pay rate you get.  Now how fair is that?  So, everybody out there who is crying crocodile tears about raising the minimum wage needs to focus on the entire issue.  Perhaps a better remedy would be to keep the minimum wage low but then give larger increases, rather then the standard .25 an hour which seems to be the norm.  Just maybe they should actually begin to reward those loyal employees who really work.

Hail Caesar: The Coen's and diversity

I'm going to go see "Hail, Caesar" this weekend and am anticipating enjoying it thoroughly.  Face it, there's nothing quite like seeing sailors tap dancing on tables in their clean, white uniforms to get the blood pumping.

So, when I saw an interview with the Coen brothers in The Daily Beast I thought this might be an interesting read, and it was.  Surprisingly, the interviewer was more concerned with their opinions about the recent diversity scourge plaguing Hollywood.  It was new perspective, one most people don't consider.  Who ever thought that George Clooney, who tried to hit one out of the park on the lack of diversity, should have a production company which employs and casts very few?  Hhmmm.  And I agreed with the point they made about writing the story.  The story is what is important and when you feel you need to include a minority just to make sure they are included, you are losing sight of the story.

The Coen brothers are very successful film makers, they, themselves, are Oscar winners and some of their films include minorities and some of them don't.  And then I thought about all the detractors clambering about the lack of diversity at the Oscars, one of whom is Spike Lee.  Lionsgate released his "Chi-raq" on December 4th specifically so it might be considered.  While critics thought it was fresh, the audience pretty much hated it.  It never played in more than 305 theaters and couldn't even muster $3 million in ticket sales.  This is what they call a turkey, and it took over 30 days before it was finally cremated.  So, how many of this year's nominees were in turkeys?  Personally, I think Spike should put out a product which successfully garners ticket sales before he starts to complain.

As for George?  Well, people like to see George on the silver screen.

But maybe next time he should make sure his dentures are fitting properly before he speaks out.

Making Babies in TEXAS

Those crazy Texas Republicans hate Planned Parenthood.  I mean, they really hate it.  In fact, they pretty much eliminated it, setting up their own version which conforms to their Crazy Christian beliefs.  And they claim their system is working wonderfully.  And, of course, they're wrong because they're Crazy Christian Republicans with a very narrow perception of what's really happening.  In fact, instead of providing healthy birth control for low income women, THEY ARE MAKING BABIES!  And Medicaid is paying for this increase in births.

Anyway, I was sitting here wondering why it is Texas wants to increase their Low Income population?  Cheap labor, perhaps?  Maybe they want their crime rate to go up because it is statistically higher in low income neighborhoods.  Or, and this is most likely, they just hate Planned Parenthood because in their minds it is synonymous with abortion.  This is wrong, of course, but it's already too late for Texas because what they've doing down there is make Low Income Babies.

Bernie's age

A quick note before I head into work, and it is early, early in the morning here on Bernie Sanders.  My main objection to him is his age.  Now I know there are people out there who are going to say I'm being biased, but no, I'm being realistic.  Bernie is 74 years old and will turn 75 in September.  The average life expectancy for a male in the United States is 76.  Now that doesn't mean he's going to keel over, but no matter how good our health care is, his days are numbered, and that could be a sledgehammer in the hands of the Republicans.  No one in this country is going to want to elect a president who might die of old age in office.  If Bernie gets the nomination they are going to tattoo his birthday all over the media, in fact they are probably praying to their nasty, little GOP god he beats out Clinton because they see him as less electable then a Cruz or a Trump.

No one wants to be called old, but there is a point in life when we all need to honestly take that reality check.  And if you don't think I'm right, remember how Kerry was "swift boated," and then just imagine what the Republicans are going to do with this elder statesman.

The Price of Diversity

They just held the SAG awards and, of course, a lot of people started chirping about how "diverse" they were.  Idris Elba was recognized twice, once for the BBC show "Luther," and once for a Netflix show "Beasts of No Nation," and proclaimed the diversity of TV and, of course, people chirped that Hollywood needs to take notice.  Of course, most of those chirping have little idea as to what the cost is just to get a nomination.  To get Elba his nomination, Netflix gave out streaming subscriptions to all the voting members of SAG, those who don't stream got hard copies.  And how many of these subscriptions / hard copies did Netflix give away?  116,000   What does a streaming subscription to Netflix cost?  About $10 a month, I think, which means the company spent about $1.16 million in order to get a nomination and eventually a win, and that doesn't include the dollars spent on all the "meet and greats."
When people talk about diversity and being recognized, they need to take into account the high octane expenses involved in getting a nomination.  If you read the article in Variety, you'll see that what Netflix did was above and beyond what other companies did to get their product nominated.  What does this say about diversity when these kind of dollars are being spent?  And if Netflix hadn't spent this kind of moolah, would Mr. Elba still have been recognized?

In this kind of environment nominations are not free and diversity is not cheap.  I do wish people would understand this.  If you want to be recognized, you're going to have to fork over the cash, you're going to have to hob nob, and meet and great, and toot your own horn by buying full page ads in Variety.  If you're an actor, one of the facts of life you need to learn very early on is that to win the awards you got to play the expensive game, translation being:  diversity has it's price.