Seth MacFarlane: Worst Host of the Oscars Says the Press

The Oscars have not had such a large audience since 2010, when Katherine Bigelow won with “The Hurt Locker” and beat her ex-husband, James Cameron, and his “Avatar.” That year, there were 41.6 million viewers in the United States. This year, with Seth MacFarlane as master of ceremonies, a total of 40.3 million people watched the gala.

According to figures by Nielsen, the company that measures audiences in the United States, compared to 2012, the 2013 transmission had an 11 percent increase in viewers between the ages of 18 and 49 years old, the most sought-after group by advertisers, and a 34 percent increase in male viewers between the ages of 18 and 34 years old. The television audience reflected the increase in box office sales of the nominated films.

According to American media sources, MacFarlane could have awakened the interest of the youngest viewers, who searched for the type of humor that the presenter displays in his series “Family Guy.” However, the critics were cruel to him. What’s more, they consider him the worst host in Oscar history. Jokes about gays and Jews and a song about actresses who’ve been nude in films did not fit many groups’ tastes.

Rob Sheffield, writer for Rolling Stone, noted that MacFarlane seemed like a “bumbling rookie,” adding that “few ideas could have been stupider” for the Oscars.

The Anti-Defamation League, which campaigns against anti-Semitism, explained, “It is sad and disheartening that the Oscars awards show sought to use anti-Jewish stereotypes for laughs.” The group’s complaint specifically reflects the skit in which Ted, MacFarlane’s teddy bear, commented to the guests in the Dolby Theatre that if you want to work in Hollywood, it is better to be Jewish. “…when one considers the global audience of the Oscars of upwards of two billion people, including many who know little or nothing about Hollywood or the falsity of such Jewish stereotypes, there’s a much higher potential for the ‘Jews control Hollywood’ myth to be accepted as fact.”

Critiques against Hispanic actors were not taken well either. These included comments against Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Selma Hayek. MacFarlane said that they had such poor pronunciation that they could not be understood when they spoke, but that it did not matter because they are very attractive.