expose us to films we may not otherwise see.
Heeeeeeeeere’s Johnny! Actually, it’s just me. Welcome back, everybody. I hope you all enjoyed your break from your diligent studies.
But now it’s back to the grindstone and listening to me rant, rave and wail about whatever silly bee has buzzed into my figurative bonnet.
Where to begin? Hmmmm….I know! Let’s start with movies. There’s a topic that people talk about.
I’m sure to many of you it’s no surprise that the nominations for The Academy Awards came out last Thursday.
I am a film fiend. I love movies and am mostly proud (yet slightly embarrassed) to say that during the year 2013 I saw over 20 feature films in theaters.
(If you suspect I don’t have much of a life or very many other interests outside of the newspaper, movies, comic books and re-runs of The Simpsons, your suspicions are 100% justified.)
A lot of great films were nominated – my favorites among them being David O. Russell’s 1970s con-artist comedy American Hustle, Martin Scorsese’s epic retelling of Jordan Belfort (Academy Award nominee Leonardo DiCaprio) and his rise to success on Wall Street in the early 1990s in The Wolf of Wall Street, Paul Greengrass’s account of the kidnapping of Captain Richard Phillips (two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks) by Somali pirates, and Steve McQueen’s masterful rendering of Solomon Northup’s (played in the film by Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofore) autobiography 12 Years a Slave. What a year for movies!
Many people I know personally don’t understand why I like the Oscars so much. A lot of people see the Oscars as an excuse for celebrities who are already fortunate enough to work in what seems like the most fun industry in the whole wide world – and make a fortune doing it – and then congratulate one another with gold statues.
But the Oscars represent so much more than that and I’ll explain why. Film is the human experience magnified for all to see. When we step into a dark movie theater and allow ourselves to be overtaken with the stories and characters parlayed on screen, we look upon ourselves.
Many of us don’t know what it’s like to be a con man, but when we witness Christian Bale’s performance in American Hustle most can identify with the struggle of a person who seeks to better his life, find love, lose love and fight for survival. We do it every day.
On the most superficial level, I have no inclination to want to experience what Jordan Belfort experiences in The Wolf of Wall Street; this includes nursing addictions to the following substances: Quaaludes, cocaine, amphetamines and alcohol.
However, I think most can identify with the quest to create a destiny of one’s choosing and play by no one else’s rules but his own.
This is where the Oscars become quite unique.
They call attention to the films that tell the stories of our lives, whether we know those stories are being told or not.
Had it not been for the awards buzz surrounding 12 Years a Slave, I don’t know if I would have made the trip to the theater on one of the coldest days in November of last year.
However, I’m glad there was such buzz. For sitting down and watching McQueen’s film from John Ridley’s masterfully adapted screenplay was an experience I don’t think I will ever forget. Sobering, educational and moving are words that describe the film and its effect on me.
I will never truly know the pain and suffering millions of humans endured at the hands of slavery.
But I know the feeling of alienation. I know feelings of immense hurt.
While I would never say that I know what it is to be a slave or that the own pains that I have in my life are even comparable (they’re not), through film I was able to make a bridge that furthered my understanding of slavery and the 400 years-long tragedy it was.
I have to thank the Oscars for that as well as the filmmakers and cast.
Movies can inform. Sure films like past Oscar winners Argo, The King’s Speech, and Lawrence of Arabia may not be all factually accurate, but they reveal emotional truths.
The Oscars make sure that some films (not all) stay in our memories for these truths.
They may not always pick the films I think are best, but they always expose me to works of art I may have not seen otherwise.
Brian Laughran
Senior Viewpoints Editor