The best award at the 81st Academy Awards

On Sunday, the 81st Academy Awards took place. The buzz has been huge about which films won, which actors took what prize, and what all the ladies were wearing. Which meant really nothing to me.

But there was one thing that occurred at this Oscar Awards that did make an impact. It had nothing to do with the movies and actors nominated. And it is something far bigger than any awards show.

Joseph Levitch, a man best known to the world as Jerry Lewis, received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his work to help those with Muscular Dystrophy. He has been an advocate of those suffering with MS and similar diseases since the 1950’s, and has run a MDA Labor Day Telethon since 1966, raising more than $2 billion over the decades.

Jerry Lewis has never received an award form his peers for the lifetime of work he has done. It is his innovation that has led to several advancements in television and movies that we see today. His career is an example of prolific performance on television, stage and movies. A great number of his films are considered classics.



But it is his work with the telethon that is what makes me so interested. No one has ever been able to find out why he had dedicated so much of his life to this cause. And there is no question that he is dedicated. Even if some dispute the manner or apparent reasons he may have. I have even heard in the past that the answer to why he is so obsessed (for lack of a better term) with this cause is sealed in a vault that his attorney is meant to open upon his death, during a telethon – so that it can be used to raise funds, as is the wish of Lewis.

Jerry Lewis is a human being. Born in 1926, I am not surprised by the occasional gaffes and seeming insensitivity he has on various issues that those far younger are appalled about today. Not surprised does not mean I approve. But I do not allow that to take away from what he has done.

This is inspirational I think. Or at least I hope it is. So few actors and entertainers today are truly involved with any cause. Yes many give lip-service to the popular buzz of the day. But few are dedicated, true believers. Which is sad, because their fame can be used to help so many.

Jerry Lewis is an icon. But far more than that he is a driven advocate that will do anything to help the causes that he believes in. So don’t be surprised if you hear in the next Telethon this year that he places his award up for sale to the highest bidder – the proceeds to go to those he most directly wishes to help. I’d expect that it’s something he would do, and I can respect that.

Of all the entertainers alive today, I can barely think of any that deserve such an accolade as much as Jerry Lewis. And it’s more than about time.

How do you feel about what Jerry Lewis said? - 9.5.2007.1

What a unique world we live in today. There are just some things I would never expect to see happen and just leave me with mixed emotions when they do. And the best part is the special moments that the news media and the general media provide every day. Or perhaps I should say, the items they forget to provide us everyday.

Obviously, there was a recent news that Mr. Jonathan Riches finally was brought to justice after 43 years without law enforcement harassment or attention for his murder of two teenage Black men in Mississippi. Aren't we lucky that those in charge of the major media news felt we needed to be protected from the news that our justice system, moving at a pace so slow as to make snails look like jet engines, only works in the most abysmal manner sometimes.

Of course, that is not to say that the legal system is always accurate. There is of course the 41 years that it took for Mr. William Barnes to be convicted of shooting a police officer. Mind you that the police officer in question did not die those many years ago. I know this because Fox News took the opportunity to tell me about this case five times today. Now I'm quite happy about that, especially in retrospect, that Fox News took the opportunity to spend 30 seconds in discussing the incarceration of Jonathan Riches.

I know some may say that "well, at least it covered the story." While that fact is true I find an inherent imbalance in their actions. In 24 hours to spend only 30 seconds on an injustice done to people on the basis of an example for an entire race, that's a slap in the face. Compounding that slap would be taking a similar story and spending 15 minutes in another 24-hour period. Essentially, it's just saying, one group of people aren't worth remembering and another group are. It's just that simple.

But that actually is not what I want to speak about. What I had not expected to happen and what did happen involves Mr. Jerry Lewis. For those who are not familiar with Mr. Jerry Lewis, he's a comedian. And he's 81 years old. He's made at huge number of movies and special programming. That does not include the advances in television programming and equipment he's developed over the years. Focusing on his comedic career he has made movies such as Cinderfella, the Nutty Professor (I'm talking about the original film. Not the one's Mr. Eddie Murphy made), the Geisha Boy, the King of Comedy, and many others. His comedic genius is regarded so highly that in France his last film premiere was made a national holiday so people could see it.

On a more personal level, from what I can tell about it as I don't know the man, there is one thing that stands out above everything else. He is absolutely committed to the muscular dystrophy telethon. He was one of the first celebrities to lend their name to cause and to seek out donations from the public for that cause. In 46 years, Mr. Lewis has never missed a telethon, and during each telethon he spends virtually the entire time awake. It honestly is an amazing display of absolute dedication. The reason why Mr. Lewis does this is completely unknown. It has been said that Mr. Lewis will only reveal the reason why he does this every year after he is dead in a document read during a telethon so that it can raise even more money for this cause.

Given this ability and looking at the dedication to such a worthy cause I was very upset to learn of comments made by Mr. Lewis. 18 hours into this year's marathon he told a joke, actually he started to tell a joke. To call it off-color would be marginalization on a grand scale. Essentially he started to insult gay people. He has since apologized for his comment. He hasn't gone to a rehab, or some other ultraliberal pro-PC excuse. He took the blame, and all he has asked for is for this to not affect the telethon.

So I'm stuck. On one hand, I find it deplorable for anyone to use any group as the butt of the joke. That is especially true when the joke is based on race, ethnicity, or some other factor solely used to distinguish one group from another. On the other hand, is the fact that on a regular basis we all have made those jokes and found them quite funny. Comedians such as Mr. Carlos Mencia say jokes based on exactly that same thought every day.

So which one is right? Should Jerry Lewis be condemned for making a gay joke, or forgiven? Does this one statement justify the end of the muscular dystrophy telethon, and all the positives it has provided? Does the fact that a significant good is happening out way and negative? If the earth were filled with utilitarians, the answer would be easy, but the reality is far from that. I don't know, what is the right answer and honestly that troubles me.

This is what I think, what do you think?