As I do every year, on a Monday morning early in the year, I set everything aside to watch the Oscars.
For several years, I felt sorry for Leo, and then finally came the year he won the golden statue (Fuking Oscar, in his words).
I had a hunch that Roma would not win Best Picture that year, but I did not expect Rami to win Best Actor. No matter—Queen has always held a place in my heart. At the recent National Convention, I stood on stage while the 1,000 audience members below reveled like children, “making love” to Queen’s music. Many hits rang out, but we forgot to play Bohemian Rhapsody. Holding the golden statuette, after thanking everyone imaginable, Rami Malek ended with the line the whole world had been waiting for: “I am forever in your debt, Queen.”
I nearly climaxed at the sight of the Mother of Dragons. But I felt sweetness only when hearing Swallow again on the Oscars stage. This was A Star is Born's only victory, but it revived the love between Gaga and Bradley. There is no eternal love, but there are eternal moments of love. Of course they love each other; that is why the film “touches” us so. Their love stops within that film, within Swallow, and becomes eternal in the moment they sing together. “There isn't another person on this planet who could sing this song with me, Bradley. Only you.”—Onstage, holding the golden statuette, she looked down and spoke to him.
“What matters is not winning (It’s not about winning), but never giving up (not giving up). If you have a dream, fight for it (If you have a dream, fight for it). Be disciplined about your passion. No matter how often you are rejected, fall down, or are beaten up, what matters is getting back up and finding the courage to continue.” – Lady Gaga, Oscars 2019.
Words that sound as though they came from a self-help book could not be more real or more emotional, because in that moment people hardly dare hear the result and cannot believe they have won. When the sound of their own name is announced. Stepping onto the stage, even if they have prepared a speech on paper, they cannot act; they can only respond with all the qualities already within them, with decades of joy, anger, love, and hatred, suffering and determination, smiles and tears, sorrow and happiness, brought onto the stage in just a few minutes. Before them is the golden Oscar statuette, the most prestigious award, recognizing efforts beyond the imagination of ordinary people, officially acknowledging that ‘you are at the top of the world in your career.’ Stop, feel fulfilled, and rest, or continue contributing, committing, and throwing yourself into hard work.
That is your choice at that moment in your life.
And that is why I enjoy watching the Oscars.
