It was Oscar Sunday last night so of course, the thing to do was to cook up a storm, invite our friends over, and loudly debate various issues completely unrelated to movies while the Oscars played in the background.
So we have the attention span of goldfish, what can I say? In our defense, we are all parents of toddlers in various stages of the terrible twos so focusing our attention away from our little angels for more than 4 mins at a time is never a good idea.
Gleefully shouting toddlers aside, the night was a fun one, and not only because Leonardo DiCaprio won an Oscar and I nearly screamed the house down in pure fangirl excitement (though of course, that was a big part of what made my night amazing!). No, the night was good because it ticked all the boxes on my list of reasons for watching the Oscars in the first place:
I’m a sucker for a pretty dress and there is no better place to feast my eyes on a parade of beautiful gowns than the Oscars red carpet. What can I say, the 5-year-old within me still jumps up and down in excitement at the sight of a pretty ‘princess dress’.
It’s an excellent excuse to get together with friends to watch something that (a) doesn’t require our undivided attention (have you ever tried watching an entire movie with a 2-year-old around?) and (b) can be watched with kids in the room (there is way way WAY too much (gratuitous) sex and violence on TV these days to be able to watch anything with kids in the room).
Every award show, no matter how much controversy surrounds it or how many faux pas the hosts make, has its moments and last night’s Oscars was no exception. Some of the best moments last night included the lovely acceptance speech by the creators of Inside Out about childhood and acceptance, the standing ovation 87-year-old Ennio Morricone got for his award for Best Musical Score, the call to action against climate change by Leonardo DiCaprio and the amazing win by journalist Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy for her documentary about the horror of honor killings in Pakistan.
Did I mention that Leonardo DiCaprio WON AN OSCAR?!?! (In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a little bit of a fan..)