TINA TYLER TALKS

By Tina Tyler

Monthly Column Exclusively at JasonCurious.com

Column #3: Freedom

As a female drag queen, the evening of March 23rd was a much-anticipated one for me. Oscar night! A night to curl up on the sofa with my 2 cool cats, Opec and Omar, eat my weight in junk food, and watch the fashion show& nitpicking all the way. This year's offering was most sumptuous as far as moments go, but over all, I was under-whelmed with the fashions. The only exception being Rene Zellweger's gown& I'd love to have that one in MY closet!

There were moments that touched me, like Adrien Brody's completely heartfelt acceptance speech, moments that made me gag, like Nicole Kidman letting the world know that she's working to make her family proud, surprises, like Barbara Streisand actually acting happy that Eminem had won Best Song and one moment I want to focus the rest of my column on.

The whole country seems to be buzzing about Michael Moore's acceptance speech, or lack thereof. Should he have used this forum to air his political views? With freedom comes responsibility. I think that the freedom of speech should be used responsibly. That being said, I think that Michael Moore acted responsibly on a night when there was a big pink elephant in a room and no one wanted to point it out.

Mr. Moore is very good at that. He is on a quest for the truth. Aren't we all on that same quest, to one degree or another? I see his actions as those of a political vigilante and I see great beauty in them.

On the other side of the coin, I have a little bone to pick with some of the members of the Fifth Estate. Specifically those who are allowed into the White House pressroom and are called upon to pose questions of the President during conferences. I think it's important for the press to delve far deeper into potential scandals involving the way any democracy is run. It's my opinion that the press has not been doing their job with this administration. I find myself pining for the days of Woodward and Bernstien, men who took their quest for the truth seriously and with pride. Thankfully we have cable television's Dennis Miller, Bill Maher, and their contemporaries to provoke some thought and bring us some less watered down perspectives.

As for Michael Moore, I pray he sticks around longer than cockroaches and keeps pointing out that the Emperor has no clothes. I think his win this year could not have been deserved more. Bowling for Columbine was my favorite movie this year. Unlike his cable television counterparts, Mr. Moore not only points out what's wrong, he makes things change for the better. We need more people like him in this world. After all it's through change that we grow and by growing, we learn acceptance and with acceptance, we come that much closer to the truth.

Some of you may disagree with what's written above. More power to you. I urge all of you to use your own freedom of speech as you see fit. Isn't that one of the things we're fighting for? Thank you, Jason, for allowing me this forum in which to exercise my freedom of speech.

Michael Moore is one cool cat in my book.

Now, here's some pictures of me with my own cool cat, Opec. Omar is very camera shy, but sends his regards.

Tina

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