March 16, 1996 By BRUCE KIRKLAND --

NEW YORK -- James Earl Jones is hoping Babe wins the best picture Oscar - so people will know what a joke the Academy Awards really are, at least to him.

"I'm happy that Babe is nominated," the actor said in an interview, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "because that is what the Oscars are really worth!"

Jones spent part of his childhood on his grandparents' pig farm. "I'd love it if Babe was in there (as winner). It kind of tells us what it is really about. A pig! I know how smart pigs are."

Continuing his quiet tirade, which he punctuates with hearty laughs while admitting, "I have to be careful," Jones says.

"I wish they had nominated Jim Carrey for a role, even though I hate what he does. But what he does is really what they want."

Jones launched his attack when asked what he thought of the lack of blacks amongst Oscar nominees this year.

"I can't say they're a joke," Jones says of the Oscars, "but I'd love to say that. I'd love to say I don't really care. And I don't."

Jones has been nominated for an Oscar only once in his 32-year film career, in 1970 as best actor for The Great White Hope.

He lost to a disinterested George C. Scott for Patton.

This year, Jones and co-star Richard Harris were ignoreddespite acclaimed performances in Cry, The Beloved Country, a film that was given only limited U.S. release.

"When Richard Harris and I were passed over, I said to my wife, `It's such a relief not to be caught up in that,' " Jones says.

Results of Oscar voting are often based on sentiment, not merit, Jones says.

He cites Sidney Poitier, who broke the color barrier amongst Oscar winners by becoming the first black to win as best actor.

But it was for Lilies Of The Field in 1963, not for his superior work in The Defiant Ones in 1958, Jones notes.

Hollywood felt guilty. "It's not just a joke, it's sentiment."

ROLE MODELS IN MOVIES: "Blacks were never denied a positive image. I had a great positive image in my grandfather. If you don't have one in your family, the other ones don't mean anything."

ON BEING A BLACK ROLE MODEL IN MOVIES: "But it is good to see the medium champion certain types of people."

AWARDS: One Oscar nomination for The Great White Hope (he lost to George C. Scott for Patton); two Tony Awards for The Great White Hope and Fences; four Emmy Awards, most recently for the now cancelled TV series Gabriel's Fire; two Obie Awards for off-Broadway plays; one Grammy Award; and an NAACP Image Award for contributions to the black community in America.


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