The Oscars

Nils Jepson April 2014

 

It had the usual monologue that slammed the movie business and LA that all recent hosts seem to conform to and had a couple funny bits throughout the ceremony, such as Ellen dressing up as Glinda the Good Witch or buying greasy pizza for equally greasy A-listers that probably made most of the audience flinch at the thought that one slip of a finger and bam! a twenty thousand dollar dress was ruined in a second. But through all the standard processes that took place throughout the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tried to accomplish something that they had never before achieved: to relate. Yes, the ceremony was frustratingly predictable and yes we pretty much all knew that 12 Years A Slave was going to take home the gold and yes the system as to which the voting is done, through a bunch of rich Hollywood elitists who probably last saw a homeless person when they were one, is flawed and questionable but in the end it was the larger implications that truly took home the Academy Award. Every Oscar speech that occurred since the origins of the event contained the phrase “and thank you to the Academy”, and the batch of speeches this year did too, but there was a little something else sprinkled into the mix. Jared Leto spoke about the importance of acknowledging and tending to those with HIV and AIDS, while Cate Blanchet rambled on about the significance of the power of women in modern cinema, where as LupitaNyong’o advocated the importance of the overlooked, and 12 Years a Slave, a film about a past most Americans too often forget, took home the most important award of the night. Looks like The Oscars are finally trying to make a statement. The Academy Awards are still a giant cloud of cotton candy sprinkled with diamonds, but the messages sent by the broadcast are darker with a shade of realism. This year, The Academy Awards finally felt human, like these “people” on our screens weren’t concoctions dreamed up by hopeful screenwriters. I finally saw personality in all the actors and what they stood for. Cate Blanchet was no longer the emotionless elf from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but a woman who has felt neglected by Hollywood for far too long. LupitaNyong’o was as insignificant to Hollywood a year ago as you or I are today. The purpose of art is often forgotten in the glitz and glamour of modern cinema. The infamous Viennese Painter, Gustav Klimt, describes the purpose of art as a way to find truth in the human condition. Art doesn’t have to be pretty like The Great Gatsby or entertaining like The Avengers. Art should be an experience where the audience members are left speechless, but not thoughtless. And I think Hollywood, as a whole, is a lot closer to finally realizing the power and impact that art had, has, and will have on the world.