The Oscars

I love watching the Oscars. It reminds me of how many dedicated artists are out there who strive to create the best. And on this night, some of them get rewarded. Even though the attention sometimes slips to the little statue, the people who receive that award are generally quick to point out that creating art is its own reward.

I get the feeling that by and large the nominees are happy not only because they’ve been nominated, but also because they’ve given 100% at their craft and, often, had the undying support of their loved ones through it all. There’s something genuinely human about how writing for film can connect millions of people.

There were a lot of memorable moments. Al Gore was one of them. His movie, An Inconvenient Truth, won the Oscar for Documentary Feature. It’s a simple, profound account of the ongoing threat of global warming and what we can do to stop it. He timed his earlier speech purposefully to get cut off by the music as soon as he was, supposedly, going to announce his intention to run for President. I thought that was classy and funny. I’m not saying anything for or against either American political party here, I’m just saying that it was cool to see Gore win the way he did at the Oscars.

Someone at the Oscars, I can’t recall who, made a comment to the effect: “While we don’t always agree in Hollywood…” It’s obvious, or at least it should be, that Hollywood is not one coherent, homogenous system of thought. It’s as varied as any other industry. And yet, for some reason it has become the focus of scorn for some groups. I’m not sure why. Maybe if there were more people who focused on creating good art instead of spending their energy on fighting what they consider to be bad art we would have a more common ground to exchange ideas.

Maybe then there would be more people like Jennifer Hudso,n who upon winning the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, said, “Look what God can do.”

The Oscars were great. It’s a reminder of the common language we share through story. And a reminder of the impact story has in our culture.