Do you think that Louis CK asked to present the award for best documentary short? Or do you think he was assigned? I’m willing to bet the latter, and that he wandered around for days trying to find the right ‘in’ to the category. Or maybe it came to him right away. Because Louis CK lives in this weird space, where he has to be everyman. It’s his job. He is obligated to point out to a roomful of rich assholes that there are people among them who aren’t just like them, and I feel like it would keep him awake at night if he missed an opportunity to do so. His whole comedy is talking about why he and other people are terrible. It must be a lot of pressure to get it quite right, and I feel like he’s vigilant in looking for the asshole angle.
But when I listened to it again, I kind of saw it a different way - a roomful of people all busting their asses laughing at the concept of a Honda Civic. Like, it was a punchline that some people aren’t as rich as the people in this room. And all of us at home are laughing, all “It’s so true!” But it also kind of feels like everyone in the room losing their minds because the concept of ‘regulars’ being at the Oscars was so funny (something Chris Rock touched on with the Girl Scouts, too). Is it any wonder they don’t behave like ‘normal people’ sometimes? They topped being surrounded by normal people a long, long time ago.
