Filmmakers can do more for the world

If you want to pass a message, do it at Oscars. Love it or hate it, the annual presentation of the world’s most famous movie awards presents one of the greatest, if not the greatest, channels for making statements that can last. The newly-ended Oscar presentation has provided a few inspirational speeches that have gone viral on social media. The good part is that even though some of them sound political, at least they don’t come from politicians.

The most touching speech, many people agree, was delivered by “Imitation Game” writer Graham Moore, who won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. “I tried to commit suicide at 16 and now I’m standing here,” Moore said on the stage. “I would like for this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she doesn’t fit in anywhere. 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.”

There is not much to add to that suicide awareness speech. It may be better than a dozen hotlines combined and any patronising counseling. After all, who’s better equipped to dispense anti-suicide advice than someone who was there before. Moore knew first-hand the power of depression, the pain of being rejected, and how being different can eat into a person’s soul.

A great but perhaps debatable point was made during an introduction to an award. Movies, it was said, take down all barriers that “divide us” in real life. When we turned on the news, the speaker said, the world’s key sources of divisiveness hit us right between the eyes – religions, politics, racial issues and so on. Films seek to bridge the gaps that the real world creates, he insisted.

Or so it seems. Like in real life, there are good movies and bad ones. By “good” and “bad”, acting or “plot holes” or special effects don’t apply here. “Good” and “bad” refer to how films are sympathetic, understanding or simply use a stereotype when major subjects are concerned. Oscar-winning movies may be outstanding in trying to address those issues in great depths, but the truth is that such films are far outnumbered by ones that lack sympathy, understanding or use stereotypes for fun.

One film may not be able to imme?diately change the world, but a film can leave a long-lasting influence. If someone grows up watching films repeating the same stereotype, he or she will struggle to shake off their impact implanted neatly in his or her subconscious. American troops are often the good guys. Russians or eastern Europeans are sadistic or power-hungry. Third-world characters don’t understand freedom or democracy that well. What’s the last movie without an accented character as the bad guy, anyway?

Films don’t have to be politically correct, one may argue. That, however, flies in the face of the “lower-the-barriers” proclamation. Moreover, movies are easier to remember than textbooks. They can’t rewrite history, obviously, but making enough movies of the same theme can make history.

Oscars bring together the sensitive, the creative and the knowledgeable. Many awards are well deserved. 

However, below the tip of the pyramid can be artistic freedom and expression at their best and at their worst. The talent can run amok at times, so to speak. Some “barriers” may be lowered, but we should be worried about those which are not, and new ones that may even be created as the Oscars go from the presenters’ hands to the receivers’.