Lynn Whitfield, NYWIFT M.C. ASAP (Photo: STV)

The Reeler paid a visit Tuesday to the 25th annual Muse Awards, the New York Women in Film & Television event that this year honored the lives and works of Julianne Moore, Tina Fey, BET president Debra Lee and editor Susan Morse. It was a hard gig to cover; whether or not you believe I am capable of even the slightest social consciousness, I always try to be on my best behavior and leave the hormone gags to people like Fey. You might call it good taste--I call it strategy.

The brilliant Fey did not disappoint, by the way, but I somehow still managed to piss off Moore. She foretold an immediate future in which outside investors would revive authentic independent film--the medium whose '90s renaissance Moore helped define with her breakthrough performance in Todd Haynes's Safe. So, I asked, is there more opportunity now for women to join this latest revival behind the camera?

It seemed like a fair follow-up. Alas, an incredulous laugh. "Listen, here's the thing, you know," Moore said. "I really think that your sex has very little to do with what you do in the working world. I think the more we talk about the differences between men and women, the more divisive we are. The more we create a division. In a sense, it's about opportunities for everybody."

Great, thanks--congrats on your Muse Award. I had an even more troubling exchange with actress Lynn Whitfield, but for a totally different reason. Whitfield appeared as the emergency replacement for M.C. Kathy Griffin, who literally called in sick yesterday morning. Imagine! But in talking with Whitfield about opportunities for African-American women in film, the conversation turned to the unbelievably tragic story of Stanley "Tookie" Williams--the Crips founder, convicted murderer and Nobel Prize-nominated case study in rehabilitation whom California put to death early Tuesday.

Whitfield talked about portraying advocate Barbara Becnel in the 2004 film Redemption, co-produced by Becnel and starring Jamie Foxx as Williams. "She's a very, very strong woman who I think today needs to be honored for ther efforts behind the scenes to save a real life, and actually to make a movie that I'm very very proud of," Whitfield said.

It was indeed awful news coming out of the West Tuesday--as a native Californian, it had knocked the wind out of me. I asked Whitfield if she was doing OK. "Today is to celebrate so many wonderful people who really don't have anything to do with Stanley's life," Whitfield said, betraying a hint of tears. "So I don’t want to confuse the two issues. But it's a very, very sad day for our country, I think, when redemption doesn't matter and a decision was made that was built not upon facts but upon votes."

I will have a lot more about the honorees, NYWIFT and the 2005 Muse Awards in next March's issue of The Independent, published by the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers. When I have the appropriate date for you to camp out at the newsstand for your copy, believe me--I will pass it along.