The Best Oscar Acceptance Speech of all Time
During the Oscar off-season as we are in now, I like to look back from time to time in this column into moments from Oscar's history. In years past, I have compiled my choices for the 50 greatest moments in Academy Awards history, as well as the 13 worst moments. I've revisited past Oscar ceremonies, and relived them for you. One thing I recently thought about was selecting the best acceptance speech of all time, which I had not yet done. Sure, I've done articles in the past and include on my Oscar web site listings of great acceptance speeches, but I've never picked the one I thought was the favorite.
So I went through tons of past and more recent Oscar acceptance speeches, and while there have been several great ones, there have also been perfunctory ones which are no more than general thank yous. To me, a truly great Oscar acceptance speech is one that not only acknowledges the people who may have made the person's success possible, but also one which either acknowledges the film they made for which they were honored, or somehow speaks to the larger issue of film craft.
Steven Soderbergh delivered a brilliant speech at the most recent Oscars when he won Best Director for Traffic, where instead of naming a bunch of names that don't mean a whole lot to the majority of people watching, he instead gave tribute to anybody who creates. It was a brilliant speech. Sadly, some people choose to use their time up on Oscar's stage for their own politics, such as Vanessa Redgrave in 1977, choosing to ignore the very film for which they were honored, and somehow trying to make their moment larger.
To me, it is beyond my understanding as to how some people who win Oscars can be so blase about the whole thing. That's why it is truly refreshing to see someone like Julia Roberts proudly exclaiming their excitement when winning Best Actress, or Richard Dreyfuss pumping his fists in excitement on the way up to receive his Best Actor trophy, or hearing Jack Lemmon exclaim "It is one hell of an honor." It's not because they think they are better than anybody else, or that their Oscar win proves that they're "somebody". I think it's because they truly realize it.
Let me explain. I'm a striving independent filmmaker myself, primarily concentrating now on writing a screenplay which will finally sell. My dream ever since I was 11 years old is to be able to work in motion pictures, either with writing or directing. I've never had another dream which has been so passionate to me personally or has been with me for any longer. If I were ever to be honored by people in the film industry in which it has been my dream to work, and stand on Oscar's stage clutching an Oscar, I would know the meaning of that moment, and I would honestly feel inside what it meant. The people who do what you do have said "You're work was exceptional, and yours was the best this year." How anybody can know this and not be impacted when winning an Oscar is beyond me.
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