It Doesn't Escape Me for One Moment . . .

Last night I stayed up very late and watched the Oscars.  I'm a movie buff, and am always curious to find out who is chosen for the various awards.  I'm not sure there were a lot of surprises last night.  Nobody came out of left field to claim one of the golden statuettes.  But there were some toss-ups, if you will, that were finally resolved one way or the other.

Best Picture, for instance.  Most folks thought it would be either Gravity or Twelve Years a Slave. I saw both pictures, liked both pictures, but as the night went on it appeared Gravity was going to win. And I really thought 12 Years was the better--and much more important--film.  So, needless to say, I was a bit surprised, and very pleased, when it won.

Unfortunately, it has not been seen by many people.  In the list of top grossing films for 2013 it came in 81st.  81st!  Ticket sales for it totaled a bit more than thirty-eight million in 2013.  The animated film Despicable Me 2, number 3 on the list, made ten times that amount!  Perhaps the Oscar will boost the attention it gets.  But the truth is, slavery is an issue we just don't want to face as a nation.  The fact that our whole economy in the first two centuries after European settlement was built on it, seems to be forgotten by many.  The fact that our national struggles with racism is rooted in it is oft times denied.

But there it sits--a spreading stain on our history--and on our life together as a nation today.  Until we are willing to take a long, hard look at the realities of slavery, we will find ourselves bogged down in prejudice. 

12 Years a Slave is a step in the right direction.  The Oscar for Best Picture, along with the other Oscars it received, is another step.  But it won't matter unless you watch it.  It won't really count unless people are willing to talk about it.  Yes, it is graphic, yes it is painful, embarrassing, violent, desperate, raw--but so was slavery.  It's time we grow up as a nation, admit to our past, seek to rectify the harm it has caused, and move toward the day when there is truly liberty and justice for all.

Lupito Nyong'o, the actress who played the role of a slave named Patsy in the film, received the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of the much-abused woman.  In her acceptance speech she eloquently spoke truth.  "It doesn't escape me for one moment," she said, "that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's."  What is true for one young actress, in reality, is true for us all.  As Americans our joy, our prosperity, our freedom, has indeed been built on the pain of so many others.  We do well to remember.