The Oscars: A Night of Awareness

A couple of weeks ago, the Grammys made it apparent that certain things needed to be brought to attention that are going on in our society. They talked about things such as artistic freedom and domestic violence. It seemed as though the Grammys were changing from the controversial event that they normally are, to a more serious and positive channel to bring information to light for viewers everywhere. Fast forward to Sunday, February 22, 2015 at the most prestigious event of the year: The Oscars. It is not abnormal for the Oscars to be serious and elite, however it seemed as though they also had many issues brought to the forefront but in a different way. The Grammys took out specific slots within the show to talk about domestic violence and artistic freedom. The Oscars didn't have anything organized in the same way. Instead, many people took time out from their acceptance speeches to get the word out about issues that they find important that are also relevant to society today.

A few of the acceptance speeches that stood out included Graham Moore, J.K Simmons, Common and John Legend, and Patricia Arquette just to name a few. Graham Moore dedicated his speech to teenagers at home struggling with thoughts about suicide because he himself struggled with suicide. J.K Simmons made the point that everyone should take time out of their days to call their parents. Common and John Legend talked about acceptance of all people and continuing Martin Luther King Jr.'s mission. Lastly, Patricia Arquette who is one of the most talked about speech givers talked about the importance of wage equality and gender equality. All of these powerful celebrities found it important to talk about issues in our society that they feel we need to take recognition and action for.

Graham Moore

Courtesy of: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

 

J.K Simmons

Courtesy of: Jonathon Dornbush/Entertainment Weekly

 

Common and John Legend

Courtesy of: NBC News

 

This brought to question peoples' reactions to all of these announcements being brought to their attention. Plenty of online websites are talking about the positive reviews. Even in the middle of the Oscars while Patricia Arquette was giving her speech, Maryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez went crazy with excitement and support in the audience. I took to Avila University's students to get their reactions.

Patricia Arquette

Courtesy of: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images



The first interview was with Brittany Gooden, an Advertising and Public Relations major. When asked what her opinion was about celebrities taking time out of their acceptance speeches to talk about societal issues, she had this to say: "I think it's a good opportunity to talk about something because you have peoples' attention. You know, if you want to make a speech about something then that's a good time to do that and just speak about something you care about."

The next interview was with Karis Pruitt, a Psychology major. She had this to say: "I think it's a good influence because America is very heavily influenced by people who are in the media, people who are on TV, people who promote music, and people who put out hits and things like...it's cool that they get up there and they talk about things that actually affect our country and people who are in it then more people will listen to it..."

It seems as though people are pleased and excited about this trend of people using their acceptance speeches as an outlet for important issues rather than just thanking people. These are important celebrities that have the power to influence others to either believe certain things or take action. Some celebrities only get the chance to do that once, so it makes sense that they would want to make it count.

My Thoughts about the Oscars