Did you watch the Oscars last night?
I did. And before that I watched a documentary on the history of the Oscars on Netflix. So it’s safe to say I listened to a lot of Oscar speeches yesterday.
We all know about the music that subtly ushers winners off stage when they talk too much, but if you think about it, Oscar winners are given a minute to give a speech about anything AND to have millions and millions of people listen. Oscar speeches are powerful.
Examples of Great Oscar Speeches
Some winners, like John Legend and Julianne Moore, use the Oscar platform to highlight important themes in the movie they represent:
“Nina Simone said it's an artist's duty to reflect the times we're in. Selma is now because the struggle for justice is right now.” – John Legend, 2015
“So many people who have this disease feel marginalized. People who have Alzheimer's disease deserve to be seen so we can find a cure.” – Julianne Moore, 2015
Others view the platform as a chance to embrace the artistic community:
“There are sixty thousand actors in this Academy…and to that artistic family that strives for excellence, none of you have ever lost and I am proud to share this with you. And I thank you.” – Dustin Hoffman, 1980
Still others take the opportunity to make a political statement in their Oscar speeches:
“I'm representing Marlon Brando this evening and he has asked me to tell you…that he very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award. And the reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry…” – Sacheen Littlefeather, 1973
“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.” – Patricia Arquette, 2015
What Would You Say In Your Oscar Speech?
We writers often hear about the importance of building a platform, but what will you say when you have one?
What would you do if it was ridiculously large like an opportunity to give an Oscar speech?
Would you use your platform to inspire other writers? To shed light on a political issue? To share your passion for 90s music, the Yankees or Picasso? Tell us in the comments!
PRACTICE
Take fifteen minutes to write an acceptance speech for a highly influential award that you won for your current project. Share in the comments section!
I would like to thank the makers of this gorgeous gown, who not unlike
the designer-blatantly inspired by others, did not create this masterpiece alone. No, the people who harvested the silk from
the worms who died so that their silk could contribute to the threads that make
up this lovely cloth. No my little friends,
your sacrifice was NOT in vain! Not to
leave out the divers, nor the 6000 irritated oysters who painstakingly cultured
the 6000 pearls prized out of their mouths only to be strung together by the
bleeding hands of this diligent designer to create this glorious gown that you
will see and photograph from every angle over the next few minutes and I will
only wear once. Yes, you unsung people,
this award is for you, too!
Brilliant!
I want to thank my producer and director for choosing my Agatha Award-winning and Newbery children’s mystery to put on the screen for a family audience. She made me proud of my novel which I created from dreams of publishing a title literary children would feel reached them. I wanted to join the ranks of classic children’s writers including modern classic novelists such as Patricia Polacco, Karen Cushman, E. L. Konigsberg, Katherine Paterson, and Priscilla Cummings, some of my many literary heroes. Thank you to my late parents who encouraged me to read even when I did not finish my homework. I wanted to be a star in my own play;
now I have had the opportunity on this Oscar stage!
I’m with you, Monica, I was there all four hours of the Oscars last night and loved it (except for Birdman winning Best Pic — I enjoyed it and liked the artsy-ness of it, but I want my Best Pic to be more INSPIRING).
If I was winning for Best Screenplay (either original or from other works), I wouldn’t push another agenda. I would just thank the Academy for this incredible honor and remind people that the Arts matter. Bringing stories to life matters — whether it’s to entertain, educate, provoke or inspire. We shouldn’t never take that job for granted and we should always keep reaching for our dreams.
I could tolerate the speeches a little more if they weren’t so ignorant and uninformed….the .77 cents line has been overused and disproven many times over. She simply just regurgitated a White House talking point.
I don’t know if I would say they’re ignorant. Though that statistic is often presented incorrectly, women still face inequality in the workplace. Women are less likely to negotiate a higher starting salary then men. Women are more likely to take jobs that pay less. Perhaps their work is undervalued? Maybe they can’t get the higher paying jobs? It’s hard to say. There’s still a pay gap for the same work in many fields, for example female personal financial advisers earn 58 cents for every dollar men make.
Okay, I have NO IDEA what I’d say, but I’d love to hear a speech more along these lines….Hopefully this makes sense! Also, this would probably be way too long for an Oscar speech, but you could easily cut it down.
“I want to thank the Academy and the wonderful people who have helped me to get here and been my roots and my wings. This is such an honor and truly just being able to participate in this wonderful art form is such a high privilege to me. I am completely in awe of the many lives and people we honor through our films.
We make these movies and pretend that we know what costs they faced and what trials they went through to live such seminal lives or participate in such great movements, but we honestly have no idea. All we can do is stand in awe and appreciation of all they have done for us—the future generations. And I hope we can all take an important lesson from their examples. We are responsible for getting involved.
Whether you are raising children, fighting for social justice, working to improve the world, or working to fix broken governments and power structures, we all need to be involved. The lives worth living—the lives worth celebrating—are those lived by people who get involved. Your life will be defined by what you have worked towards. Fighting for a better tomorrow is always something worth celebrating and honoring.
When we make films we have a very limited amount of time to tell a huge story. We cannot address everything that has happened in someone’s life. We of necessity leave out certain details or parts of the story. Please do not think that those parts are not important. Everything that makes someone who they are is an important part of their story. Just as every person who makes a movement what it is becomes a key player.
I hope that those watching these films see that it is not only the man who leads the march that is worth revering. If all you can do is walk alongside carrying a sign you are still doing something worthwhile.
Whatever you can do to make the world better, you must do. It is part of the social contract that you will take the privileges and gifts given to you by the previous generation and pay it forward. Whatever you can do, you must. And there are still so many things to do to make this world wonderful for our children. From hunger, to discrimination, to health, to education, and on and on, every issue needs its own movement. I hope we can all take the examples from those whose stories we tell, and go forward creating stories that our children will be just as proud to tell tomorrow. Thank you.”
Well, first
of all, I’d like to thank that one person who needed a break from everything
and went to an old library with only one librarian. And I’d also like to thank
that same person for going into the darkest corner and going to the old, dusty
shelf only to find a book and deciding to try it. I’d like to thank you, even though
I might never know who you are, for actually getting my book one faithful and
dedicated reader.
I’d also
like to thank my publishers, because that person would have never read that
book without you. And thank you, Code-name Shy Girl, for helping me understand what
it was like to have a quiet life, because I know my story wouldn’t be have as
good without you.
I guess I’d
also like to thank my mother. Thanks for putting up with my constant locking
myself in my room and doing nothing for a few hours except listen to music and
type. This book would have never have been finished otherwise.
Thank you
J.K. Rowling for getting me to read more books. I would have never been
interested in words without the magical world of Harry Potter. And thank you
Agatha Christie, for teaching me to focus on dialogue and plot twists. Thank
you Marissa Burt, because I feel StoryBound now. And thank you to all of those
other writers whose names I can’t recall, because without you, I would never
have found my voice in writing.
And thank
you Joe Bunting, because your blog and your book really set everything in place
for me.
And thanks
for the Butterfly Effect, because with that theory, none of this speech would
have really made sense!
Love this post, Monica. Great topic. I’m not able to create a speech right now, but I’ll have fun swirling this challenge around in my mind, exploring the possibilities (and designing the dress).
I want everyone to know that the Cabal and their Illuminati who control Hollywood are on their way down. Soon they will be gone. We will then have access to art of all forms by the most talented people on Earth. No more mediocre movies, canned music or books for adults at the level of a 5th grader. The sheeple will awaken. We will all be intelligent beings again. Our true history will be told, and all the ancient artifacts removed from the coffers of Smithsonian, Yale and the like. All government will be of, by, and for the People. Soon we will need neither governments nor money. We will know that we’re facets of the Source, and we will live like it.