**I recently commented the following and wanted to make this into a post instead.**
Here we are blaming Will and Chris, when we should be looking at the situation systemically. It’s simple to cast individual blame while overlooking the environment and institution that led to the situation.
It was the Oscars (their committee, writers, leaders, producers, etc.) who approved the joke. Are the jokes getting meaner every year, to get more ratings, and thus more advertisement dollars?
The Oscars are an institution, one that should have stepped in in this situation and that of those felons like Weinstein. It should be sanctioning violators and removing awards from felons. If it wants to be a respectable institution again, it could tone down the hostile, comedic environment.
The Oscars are about perpetuating themselves at whatever cost, even if it means overlooking violence, insults, felons, or indignities.
The institution is getting crushed under the weight of competition (Netflix, social media), and hypocrisy, so it’s resorting to ever more outlandish methods of garnering interest.
Other institutions such as the NFL have been pressured when their players acted publicly out of line.
It’s time to shift the blame to those in power and the institution itself.
