We all know what a big deal this is: Leonardo DiCaprio has, after numerous attempts, finally been given his Oscar. But, for me, the YES moment wasn’t when his name was called. It was when he delivered his seemingly non-time-restricted acceptance speech that I screamed and threw my arms in the air.
If you ask me, the universe was waiting for the exact right time to give Leo his Oscar. Because of his suffering, he had the world’s pity. When he finally was called up, he had all eyes on him. And what did he choose to talk about during this moment in the spotlight? Climate change.
Cue the massive applause.
After the usual thanking of producers, directors, parents and friends, Leo delved into a much more serious topic than most Oscar acceptance speeches would touch on. And no one cut him off.
He reminded everyone that 2015 was the hottest year in recorded history. The Revenant had to film at the most southern tip of the planet just to find snow. He pleaded that for the sake of all future generations, we come together to fight climate change.
In Leo’s own words, “Climate change is real, it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating”.
Preach Leo.
Apparently, Leo is an established environmental activist who has backed many eco-friendly campaigns. Who knew, right? Most of us just thought of him as ‘that actor without an Oscar’. But now that that’s not true, we can think of him as ‘that environmentalist actor’.
Did you know he has his own foundation? He does: founded in 1998, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation works to protect biodiversity, conserve oceans, conserve wildlands, and working against climate change. They are “dedicated to the long-term health and well-being of all Earth’s inhabitants”, which I, for one, think is a pretty cool purpose.
Leo even gave a speech during at the 2015 Climate Change Conference in Paris. Leo stated that the conference may be the most important of anyone’s lifetime. He then made this brilliant statement: “We assemble here as our world faces a variety of crisis but one thing is fundamentally clear, we are able to solve our greatest challenges when we find the will to work together”.
He ended this speech by saying “Be bold, be courageous, do everything in your power to change our current course. After all, the entire world is watching you”. The entire world is watching you? I feel like he knew 2016 was the year, he was ready for that Oscar speech.
Check out the foundation, and everything Leo’s been involved in here: http://leonardodicaprio.org/about/
There are a lot of attractive pictures of Leo out there, but this one is my new favorite.
I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of newfound respect for Leo. That Oscar was not only deserved, but perfectly timed. Well done, Leonardo.
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