(Photo: Defamer)
In previous years, the talk around the Oscars has focused primarily on the extravagant gowns, the well-known nominees and the innovative films. However, the 2015 Oscars have us talking about something more meaningful this year: the acceptance speeches.
Acceptance speeches are usually extended ‘thank yous’ to the winner’s family, cast and crew. However, some of this year’s acceptance speeches dared to go against the grain and got deeper than ever before.
These are the winners that demanded our attention be directed to significant issues in incredibly emotional and influential ways:
1. John Legend and Common
Legend and Common performed “Glory” before they accepted the Academy Award for Best Original Song. That performance alone left everyone with the feels and even made many people in the audience cry, including Chris Pine (making him 100x hotter – real men cry) because it was that breathtakingly powerful.
This speech emphasizes that we are still fighting the same civil rights war that Martin Luther King Jr. was fighting for 50 years ago. We may be the Land of the Free, but we still have some ways to go until we achieve freedom for all.
John Legend:
“We live in the most incarcerated country in the world. There are more black men under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850. When people are marching with our song, we want to tell you that we are with you, we see you, we love you, and march on.”
Common:
“The bridge was once a landmark of a divided nation, but now is a symbol for change. The spirit of this bridge transcends race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and social status… This bridge was built on hope… welded with compassion and elevated by love for all human beings.”
(Referring to the bridge that Martin Luther King Jr. and the people of the civil rights movement marched on 50 years ago)
2. Alejandro G. Inarritu
John Legend and Common weren’t the only two of the night that brought forward racial issues. The director of “Birdman,” which won the Oscar for The Best Motion Picture of the Year, dedicated his speech to Mexicans. If you look back in history and even present day, Hispanics are still unfairly discriminated against.
“To my fellow Mexicans, I pray that we can find and build a government that we deserve, and the ones that live in this country, who are a part of the latest generation of immigrants in this country, I just pray that they can be treated with the same dignity and respect as the ones who came before and built this incredible immigrant nation.”
3. Patricia Arquette
It is no secret that women are still paid less than men. On average, full-time working women earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. That 23% gap implies that women work an extra 68 days to earn the same pay as a man. The gender wage gap is real, and Arquette, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, was not afraid to address that in her speech. Women may have come a long way, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t still have ways to go for total equality.
“To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights, it’s our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America.”
4. Eddie Redmayne and Julianne Moore
(Photo: ABC News)
Both of these phenomenal actors won Oscars for Best Actor and Best Actress. They portrayed people suffering from incurable diseases, ALS and Alzheimer’s. Not only will their incredible movies bring awareness to these tragic diseases, but their acceptances speeches will as well.
Eddie Redmayne:
“This belongs to all of those people around the world battling ALS. It belongs to one exceptional family — Stephen, Jane, Jonathan and the Hawking children”
(Photo: wiseGEEK)
Julianne Moore:
“So many people with this disease feel isolated and marginalized. People with Alzheimer’s deserve to be seen so we can find a cure.”
5. Dana Perry and Graham Moore:
(Photo: ABC News)
On average, nearly 650,000 Americans go to the hospital because of self-harm. Approximately 40,000 Americans die of suicide each year. Perry, who won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject and Moore, who won an Oscar for Best Animated Screenplay both openly talked about their personal experiences with the controversial topic of suicide. Suicide is usually brushed under the rug, but like Perry states, “We should talk about suicide out loud.”
Dana Perry:
“I want to dedicate this to my son Evan Perry. We lost him to suicide. We should talk about suicide out loud. This is for him.”
(Photo: She Knows)
Graham Moore:
“When I was 16 years old, I tried to kill myself, because I felt weird and different and I did not belong, and now I’m standing here. I would like for this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she’s weird or she’s different or she doesn’t fit in anywhere. Yes you do. I promise you do. Stay weird. Stay different, and then when it’s your turn, and you are standing on this stage, please pass the same message along.”
For all the winners of the Oscars this year who decided to speak up about these issues, “THANK YOU!” Thank you for being brave and enlightening us all. Hopefully this will start a new trend and people will no longer be scared to stand up for what they believe in.