Feb 24 2009
How to Accept an Oscar
Like any good Hollywood junkie, I watched the Oscars on Sunday night. I was expecting some overblown speeches, orchestra fighting, etc. but I was pleasantly surprised–the orchestra didn’t have to manhandle their way into any acceptance speeches this year. In fact, this year had some of the most heartfelt and sweet thank yous I’ve ever heard. So, in honor of this year’s classy thanks, I wanted to use them as examples in a lesson for the rest of Hollywood on
How to Properly Accept an Oscar
1. Thank the Academy. Yes, obviously you are talented if you are receiving an Oscar but you wouldn’t be getting it if the Academy hadn’t nominated and then given you the award. I can’t stand the people who go on and on, thanking their dog walker’s niece but not the Academy.
2. Keep it short! Yes, Julia Roberts, we were very happy that you got your well deserved Oscar for Erin Brockovich but don’t fight the conductor. And Cuba Gooding Jr., the orchestra didn’t chime in to help boost your speech–they were telling you to shut up.
You’re done, dude.
3. Know when to use political activism and when to just say thank you. In 1972, Marlon Brando won the Oscar for The Godfather. He did not attend the Oscars and instead sent Native American Rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather in his place. When his name was called, Littlefeather made her way to the stage and said that Brando would be declining the award based on the film industry’s treatment and depiction of Native Americans. The following year, Littlefeather went on to pose in a nude pictorial for Playboy.
Everyone has a price.
This year’s Oscars had two speeches relating to gay rights: one from Sean Penn when he won the Best Actor award and Dustin Lance Black when he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The award was very emotional for Black who, as a gay man, said that Harvey Milk and his story gave him hope that it would one day be acceptable by society for him to fall in love and get married. His speech was heartfelt and emotional and this project had clearly meant a lot to him.
Sean Penn made fun of himself for his reputation of being unlikable but his speech was also inspirational in relation to gay rights. Evidently there were homophobic protesters outside the awards ceremony who were objecting to Milk’s nominations. Penn used his acceptance speech to say that their grandchildren will be ashamed of them if they continue what they are doing and our country is in need of equal rights. His words weren’t as emotional as Dustin Lance Black’s, but they were still powerful and not overdone a la Brando.
4. Cute and funny moments can be good, but don’t let them get to shticky. When Tilda Swinton won the Best Supporting Actress award in 2008 for her performance in Michael Clayton, her speech was a little irreverant. She first compared her Oscar to her agent and concluded her speech by first complimenting George Clooney on his dedication to acting before talking extensively about his Batman costume with nipples. Funny, yes. Appropriate? Maybe not.
This year’s Oscars had several funny moments during acceptance speeches. My two favorites were Kate Winslet for Best Actress and Kunio Kato for Best Animated Short Film. Kate Winslet couldn’t find her parents to thank them and had her dad whistle so she could find them. Kunio Kato’s short film won and although his speech was, at times, a little hard to understand due to his accent, his closing line was clear as a bell: “Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.”
Well played, Mr. Kato.
In other news regarding someone who will most likely never win an Oscar, did anyone else see Robert Pattinson with Amanda Seyfried? The two of them introduced the montage of romantic movies from 2008 and Pattinson looked like he’d be more at home watching Seyfried through a pair of binoculars. Seyfried keeps smiling but I’m not sure if she’s laughing at Pattinson or laughing to keep from crying because he’s standing so close.
“I have your toenails, Amanda.”
