Family Ties
Oscar turned 83 this year and the glitterati was out in full force to celebrate. Now the red carpet is rolled up and stashed in storage until next year. You can check out our Oscar ruminations on our podcast later this week. In the meantime, I will offer my thoughts on the event and the films it celebrated.
Oscar night 2011 featured a delightful stage-stealing moment from Kirk Douglas; uneven hosting from the effervescent Ann Hathaway and the smirking frat boy, James Franco; and a live “F-bomb” from Oscar-winner Melissa Leo, who had lobbied The Academy with a “vote for me” campaign. There was a fun opener with Hathaway and Franco popping up in each of the best picture nominations as they accessed Alec Baldwin’s dreams. However, as a spectacle, I thought this self-congratulatory love-in was a flop.
When it came to the awards, there were big snubs – no Oscars for Christopher Nolan; his Inception picked up just 4 technical prizes. True Grit, under the direction of the Coen Brothers, had waltzed onto the red carpet with 10 nominations but left empty-handed.
It was a big night for The King’s Speech – it had 12 nominations and garnered 4 Oscars. Colin Firth and Natalie Portman were honoured in the Best Actor categories. The wild Welshman, Christian Bale, took home a Best Supporting Actor prize for his portrayal of boxing tragedy Dicky Ecklund in The Fighter.
Of greater note and significance are the films nominated. The shaping influence of family was a common thread running throughout the Best Picture nominations. In Toy Story 3, the talking toys are a unique family, exhibiting sacrificial love and commitment in the face of adversity. Lee Unkrich, who accepted the Best Animated Feature award on behalf of the film, commented that Toy Story 3 is, “a movie about talking toys that had hopefully had something very human to say.” The very human message is that we long to be loved and accepted, and we want those around us to look out for us.
In 127 Hours, James Franco portrays lone wolf Aron Ralston’s yearning for family as he faces a lonely, untimely death. Ralston cherishes the love of his parents and has a vision of a son he is yet to have. Danny Boyle’s depiction of those desperate hours shows that the prospect of future fatherhood and the love of parents is what sustained Ralston.
The Kings Speech stars Oscar winner Colin Firth as a reluctant royal who was royally damaged by his fearsome father. King George VI is a stutterer who ascends to the throne at the dawn of mass media. His self-confidence has taken a beaten by the bullying tactics of his father and the taunting of his sneering brother. “Bertie” finds his voice and steps up to the responsibility thrust upon him with the help of an Aussie speech therapist who becomes a lifelong friend. Here we see the transformative potential of friendship. “Bertie” tackles his disability and the challenges of imminent war, not as a rugged individualist, but as a man supported by his sympathetic wife and fortified by the encouragement of a new friend.
Winter’s Bone explores the world of meth labs, grinding poverty, and patriarchy in the Ozarks . In her breakout role, Jennifer Lawrence plays Ree Dolly, a young girl who tracks down her drug-dealing absentee father while holding her family together. The 17-year-old assumes leadership of the family in the face of her mother’s mental illness and her father’s flight. Ree is a steadying influence who reassures her younger siblings, “I'd be lost without the weight of you two on my back. I ain't going anywhere.” Snowflake, her addict uncle comes through for her as well. This is not a feel-good flick, but the importance of family resonates throughout.
The Fighter serves up a portrait of dysfunction, brokenness, & addiction. The Eklund family is an ugly little tribe – but they do stick together. Micky Ward ( Mark Wahlberg) experiences success in the ring because he has the support of his cleaned-up crackhead brother, his mother, and his girlfriend. The Kids Are All Right tiptoes towards the discussion of a child’s need for both a mother and a father – and then balks at this discussion.
Black Swan is a psychosexual thriller with Barbara Hershey as a domineering mother who exercises control over her ballerina daughter, Nina. Nina is an adult who has never grown up and teeters on the brink of a mental meltdown throughout the film. Natalie Portman’s portrayal shows Nina as a tortured child that undergoes a disturbing metamorphosis to becomes the Black Swan –physically, emotionally, sexually. . . Did the pressure of the lead role in Swan Lake put her on the brink of a breakdown? Was she already on the cusp of an emotional crash because of the suffocating and stultifying attentions of her mother?
In the Best Picture Category, there was a great deal of material that reminds us that our family of origin can shape us in dark and destructive ways. At the same time, we also saw the redemptive power of family played out on the big screen. We are reminded that we need family. As U2 remind us, ”sometimes you can’t make it on your own.” We need more than a little help from our friends. We need companions who will journey with us through life’s setbacks, failures, storms, and our own missteps. Simon and Garfunkel ‘s defiant declaration, “I am a rock – I am an island “ is hollow. We were created by the God who is an eternal community of love - Father, Son and Spirit – in his image and likeness, to live in community.
