Devoted award show spectators will readily admit that funny, socially cognizant award ceremonies are few and far between. This year, due to the enduring transmissible elephant in the room, the 2020 Emmys were conducted virtually with the exception of a few guest stars and the host of the program, Jimmy Kimmel. Some entertainment critics enjoyed the award show, citing the celebration’s focus on Black individuals and essential workers as evidence of its quality.
To the Emmys’ credit, more Black actors were awarded Emmys this year than ever before, and the program offered screen time to an impressive number of Black individuals in general. Unfortunately, the show’s trivialization of important political issues and human rights were extraordinary distractions from this progress. 2020 Emmys … WTF were you thinking?
This year, it was hard to tell who the Emmys’ target audience was. The liberal political themes of the night might have otherwise suggested that the program was written for any progressive person, but Jimmy Kimmel’s COVID-19 skit with Jennifer Aniston was the start of the Emmys’ alienation of any serious liberal viewers.
In this skit, Kimmel mocks Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, claiming “Doctor Fauci says 60 feet” and using gloves to handle the award envelope before sanitizing it excessively and then setting it on fire.
The skit’s exaggeration of COVID-19 measures seemed to mock the severity with which society is taking coronavirus. As the fatal pandemic continues to ravage the nation, it seems that it should be the goal of widely televised and highly influential programs to encourage precautions against infection rather than trivialize them.
Trivialization was the theme of the 2020 Emmys. It bled into every important topic of the night, including encouragement of voting and importance of Black lives.
An unfortunate skit featuring Anthony Carrigan brought the subject of voting into the conversation, but also—perhaps inadvertently—suggested that citizens have reason for concern regarding mail-in voting and Russian interference in the upcoming election.
And yes, Black individuals were highlighted throughout the ceremony, but they were cast in strange lights. In the same way that the male gaze exists for the pleasure of the male viewer, the lesser-known white gaze exists for the pleasure of the white viewer. The Emmys chose to portray Black individuals in the way that a white person might like to see them.
For starters, Jimmy Kimmel—a white man—was the host of the Emmys. He was not a tactful host and refused to take political issues seriously, at one point joking about reporting John Oliver to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Having a white man host an award show that attempts to highlight Black excellence and achievement on several occasions is blatantly tone-deaf. It came off as a show in which Kimmel—the hero—guided the, assumedly white, audience through a journey of education about Black individuals. The audience saw a white man become educated about Black culture rather than directly learning about Black culture through a Black lens.
Prerecorded interview clips of Lena Waithe and Isa Rae were part of the Emmys’ attempts to highlight Black excellence. Though Kimmel wasn’t a part of these interviews, the white gaze still tainted the clips. At certain moments, the footage drains of color to reflect a sadness that neither speaker presents in their words or expressions. At the end of Rae’s interview, the audio is overlayed with Lizzo’s popular song “Juice.” These decisions pander to white individuals to make them more comfortable with Black success.
Anthony Anderson took the stage alongside Kimmel in what became perhaps the worst moment of the night. Initially, Anderson says he has some things he’d like to say. Kimmel says, “oh, you do? Because in rehearsal I thought we decided that we’re just gonna—” and Anderson cuts him off with the comment that there is a record number of Black Emmy nominees this year. This is clearly a scripted interaction.
Kimmel tries to silence Anderson several times, but Anderson cuts him off to continue his speech. Anderson says, “Black Lives Matter” and asks Jimmy to say it with him. Anderson is passionate, but Jimmy looks highly uncomfortable and says the words hesitantly. Anderson ends the speech with, “I’m glad I got that off my chest,” and Kimmel laughs at him, saying, “I am too.”
Kimmel’s reactions to Anderson make it seem like Anderson is being unreasonably passionate about Black excellence and, since Kimmel is the host, he is in a position of authority—he tells the audience how to feel.
The Emmys could have tackled the political issues of 2020 in many worse ways. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t recognize how poorly they did choose to address them. Any media with a large platform and influence over thousands should strive to be better.