OK, well love em or hate em, the Oscars are in the air.
I have to admit that Karen and I could only stomach about half of them before getting bored and going to sleep. But we did see Patricia Arquette's amazing acceptance speech, in which she demanded equal pay for women, and we were cheering at the T.V.! This was surely one of the best moments along in the Oscars, along with some others that I'd like to highlight in support, even though I'm just learning of them the next day.
I watched the Glory performance, and was brought to tears, as many of the audience at the Oscars were. And in accepting the Oscar for the song, Common and John Legend also had some powerful words to share. What a great song, and great performance. Although Selma didn't get all the recognition it deserved, I think this was a powerful tribute clearly linking to the social justice struggles today, particularly the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Another amazing moment, was to see Glenn Greenwald on stage holding an Oscar. There was a time recently when Greenwald wasn't sure he could come back to the U.S. without being prosecuted because of his brave journalism reporting Edward Snowden's whistleblowing. Citizenfour, the documentary about Snowden, won for Best Documentary.
Although I'm not sure Birdman was the best picture (I'd probably vote for Selma) though it was very good, it was awesome to hear the amazing director Alejandro González Iñárritu speak for immigrants' rights in his acceptance.
I'm still not sure what to think of Eddie Redmayne winning for best actor portraying Stephen Hawking. When I saw the movie, I thought it was beautiful and that his performance was great. But since then I have read many activists who are disabled criticize the performance as not true, and criticize the fact that they once again took an acting job away from a person who is disabled (who could have played the part, or part of the role). I'm conscious of the fact that the movie biz has a history of (inaccurately) portraying people disabilities, and of able-bodied people playing people with disabilities.
Overall the Oscars had some powerful political messages, I think it's a sign of the times.
So there it is. That's my political Oscar rant.
-MJP
I have to admit that Karen and I could only stomach about half of them before getting bored and going to sleep. But we did see Patricia Arquette's amazing acceptance speech, in which she demanded equal pay for women, and we were cheering at the T.V.! This was surely one of the best moments along in the Oscars, along with some others that I'd like to highlight in support, even though I'm just learning of them the next day.
I watched the Glory performance, and was brought to tears, as many of the audience at the Oscars were. And in accepting the Oscar for the song, Common and John Legend also had some powerful words to share. What a great song, and great performance. Although Selma didn't get all the recognition it deserved, I think this was a powerful tribute clearly linking to the social justice struggles today, particularly the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Another amazing moment, was to see Glenn Greenwald on stage holding an Oscar. There was a time recently when Greenwald wasn't sure he could come back to the U.S. without being prosecuted because of his brave journalism reporting Edward Snowden's whistleblowing. Citizenfour, the documentary about Snowden, won for Best Documentary.
Although I'm not sure Birdman was the best picture (I'd probably vote for Selma) though it was very good, it was awesome to hear the amazing director Alejandro González Iñárritu speak for immigrants' rights in his acceptance.
I'm still not sure what to think of Eddie Redmayne winning for best actor portraying Stephen Hawking. When I saw the movie, I thought it was beautiful and that his performance was great. But since then I have read many activists who are disabled criticize the performance as not true, and criticize the fact that they once again took an acting job away from a person who is disabled (who could have played the part, or part of the role). I'm conscious of the fact that the movie biz has a history of (inaccurately) portraying people disabilities, and of able-bodied people playing people with disabilities.
Overall the Oscars had some powerful political messages, I think it's a sign of the times.
So there it is. That's my political Oscar rant.
-MJP
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