For the first time in years, I gathered together with friends in Cornerstone's media department to watch the Academy Awards. As I watched these incredibly talented and creative people give emotional speeches thanking everyone from their agent to their dogs, I wondered why it is that we watch award shows. Why have they become such a standard of American television, garnering viewers in the millions?
I read once that the Olympian gods, perhaps, still exist in Hollywood. That the worship that humans once threw at Aphrodite, Zeus, and Mercury, we now give to Brad Pitt, Kim Kardashian, and Conan O'Brien. There's something in us that wants to look up to creatures like us, but better.
Of course, they have their problems. They fight, they argue, they cheat. In fact, their problems comfort us. We really aren't that much different from what we worship, after all.
As I watched the awards tonight, I didn't find these people worthy of my worship. But, I was... inspired.
The ellipsis is there in that last sentence because it surprised me. I'm not someone who gets caught up in who's marrying who and for how long and what this guy said on set that was such a big deal. I have no need for gods in my life. I am, however, a creative person. I am a filmmaker, a writer, a member of an academy (however small and backwater-seeming at times). Watching these complete strangers whose work I admire greatly receive awards with humility and gratitude rekindled in me many things.
One of the strongest was a desire to write. But not so that I would be honored with an award. Rather, it was because I wanted to give actors the chance to experience the catharsis I remember feeling as an actor. I want to tell stories that move people, that cause them to think, that make them feel something they haven't felt before.
I want to be part of an Academy. I want to see the beauty in the creative works of others and be a part of recognizing that. To give the sublime joy of affirmation, "Yes. What you poured your heart and soul into has worth. It is beautiful. It was worth it." to an actor who never expected it. Or to the first hit screenwriter. Or the industry veteran who has continued to move us with their craft.
So perhaps this is why we watch award shows. Not to participate in some kind of subtle cultural idol worship of neo-Olympian gods, but to be inspired. To see what humans are capable of in the hopes that we, too, may achieve something great.
2 comments:
Sometimes I watch it to see what movies are worth seeing. Other times I just look through the winner list later. I don't really care about the people who are receiving the awards.
It bugs me to find out that most people believe watching The Academy Awards is about worshiping celebrities. I guess for me, it was always straight forward: It's about honoring movies. Acknowledging the movies that are thought provoking or that illuminate the human spirit. Giving tribute to creativity, and those that made the magic of the movies possible. For me it was always more about the movies and the people who made it possible. There are documentaries in the running, which hopefully people will enrich their lives and go out and see after viewing The Academy Awards. There are people behind the cameras bringing it all together, and there are the actors. I do not have contempt for the actors, I see them merely as fellow creative spirits (however dysfunctional counterparts they might be). And to have a night to honor creativity and vehicles of imagination and depth of thought, I can imagine no greater thing.
So it just seems odd to me that people seem so content watching sports, such a meaningless waste of time. Honoring it, obsessing over it. And then turn such a critical eye to an award show honoring something with more intellectual breadth. It bewilders me. Sometimes I find society a little shallow and hollow. But, when I'm watching The Academy Awards, I'm reminded that there are other people out there that believe in hope, and the human spirit, and the possibilities. Yes, actors and actresses help make that possible, but that's not the main point, it's just a small part of it.
Last year, there was an award acceptance speech for the Pixar film "Up" that really meant a lot to me. If you did not see it, the winners of The Academy Award urged others to not give up on their creative talent, even if those close to them did not see the potential. He said it did matter, and to keep believing (or something to that effect). It's important, and I think it's narrow minded and short sighted of people to just see celebrities.
-Jennifer Robbins
Post a Comment