Barack Obama wasn’t the only notable person addressing graduating students at the Howard University commencement Saturday morning. He was preceded by award-winning actress Cicely Tyson, and clips of Tyson’s comments were broadcast on MSNBC’s Saturday show.
It looks like the the expert panel on MSNBC (led by Joy Reid) totally missed Tyson’s reference to her career-highlight, iconic performance as Miss Jane Pittman when Tyson slipped into character while speaking at Howard.
Tysen played Pittman (a fictional character) in a powerful 1974 TV movie. Most of the movie was flashbacks narrated from a 1960’s front porch by a 110-year old Pittman. The character was born a slave and emancipated as a young woman.
Tyson — who was about 50 years old at the time — played the adult Pittman in flashbacks over the decades (with the help of Emmy-award winning makeup).
The broadcast was groundbreaking for its time, and is still a powerful history lesson and a powerful story about perseverance and heartbreak and the human spirit.
The movie’s flashbacks were narrated by the 1962 Pittman, and Tyson created a distinctive talking voice that fit a 110 year old woman who had spent her life in rural Louisiana.
While speaking to the Howard students today Tyson told the audience she wanted to offer some advice from “an old friend who is always close by” — at which point she shifted into the very characteristic stage voice of the 110-year old Jane Pittman — exactly as she had done when performing this role in the film.
In the movie the aging Miss Jane spoke slowly, haltingly and in a thick southern rural drawl. Just as Tyson switched to this “in character” Jane Pittman voice at Howard today MSNBC quickly cut away. The show narrator seemed a bit flustered.
MSNBC did not offer a word of context to explain that Tyson was actually channelling Miss Jane Pittman — something a lot of younger viewers might not know, but something that THIS panel and THIS narrator should well have known.
My take on what turned into an awkward MSNBC moment was that the Jane Pittman reference went entirely over the head of the panel and of the producers whispering in their ear. I think they thought that Cicely Tyson — who is now 92 years old — was having a “senior’s moment” up there on the Howard stage.
Instead of sticking with the video feed from Howard to hear what kind of wisdom the fictional Miss Jane had to share with the Howard students, MSNBC was — mistakenly — embarrassed for Tyson, and decided to cut her off mid-sentence.
I may have misread the moment (and it was just a moment) — but if I didn’t, then it’s a pity.
The silver lining — This is an excuse to encourage everyone who hasn’t seen this film to track down and watch it and show it to your kids or your grandchildren. It’s available on dvd from Amazon, and if you have access to a teenager, I’m sure they can find some way to download it or stream it (although I would recommend watching on a larger screen).
The film stands the test of time — there’s good reason it won seven Emmies and was nominated for four more. Pittman herself won two Emmies — including a special award as Actress of the Year.
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unday, May 8, 2016 · 8:24:44 AM +00:00 · integrate
UPDATE
Cicely Tyson’s full remarks at Howard web site.
Nothing in her remarks that would have triggered “corporate censors” at MSNBC (for those inclined to conspiracy theories). This was simply clueless producers and clueless panelists who did not recognize the cultural reference when Tyson slipped into character.
Cicely Tyson starts around 2:02:00 in video: www.whur.com/...