The Best Picture Goes To...Michelle Obama?

Last night, my family and I, like millions of Americans tuned in to the Acadamy Awards. By 10:30, our patience had dwindled down to almost nothing while waiting for the biggest award, Best Picture, to be revealed. We were quite surprised to see the screen turn to our first lady Michelle Obama in a beautiful gown in the White House with the envelope. I was confused at first as to why SHE was presenting the award considering that it is usually some famous actor. By this time, we had put it together that she would undoubtedly be mixing in politics into the Oscars. I found an article from the Washington Post that talked about the backlash that she received from her surprise appearance  Obama's message was about how important the arts are. This message seemed to tie in perfectly with the overall theme of the Oscars.

Her controversial guest appearance could not go without criticism. Many critics said that it was not her place to be; that The First Lady should not have been in Hollywood at all. Also, it was interesting that the video with Michelle Obama at the White House also included military personell standing behind her. If she had just been talking about the arts and there were no military personell in the background, there still would have been backlash but I don't think that some people would have had such an intense reaction to her seemingly harmless presence. This whole incident seemed to remark on the idea of separation  Some Americans did not feel comfortable with mixing politics and their entertainment. I would argue that even the television and movies that we see everyday may in fact contain commentary about our society and can relate to politics. Do you think that Michelle's appearance at the Oscars was out of line?