The Oscars: Reflections from a Moviegoer

The Oscars make me realize how rare it is for people to actually talk about the content of movies. Normal Oscar chatter tends to be about the dresses actresses wear, or what someone says in an acceptance speech. The core value is the recognition of great talent that we have in film making today. 

Brie Larson won Best Support Actress for Room. Honestly, as a Mom to 4 daughters, I'm not sure if I'm ever going to have the guts to sit through this movie.  I recently watched Larson in Short Term 12, which is a film on Netflix. Larson is an incredible force in this film as a caring supervisor to at risk teens in a long term foster care setting. This is a film which every parent should see because it talks about the power of "presence" even when a young person faces severe challenges in life. If you have any reservations about seeing Room, go check out Larson's work in Short Term 12.  Let's hope this brilliant actress gets lots of good roles in the future.

Leonardo DiCaprio won for Best Actor in The Revenant, which is honestly another movie I will probably not see. Yet I'm happy Leo got recognized for his talent. An interesting backstory that's being talked about in Washington, D.C. is that the original novelist, who created this entire concept in 2002, wrote this book in his spare time while working as a lawyer. Michael Punke came early to work to type his novel in a quiet law office.  He quit his legal job, took a job as a professor in Missolu, Montana. He planned to spend the rest of his life writing, teaching and fishing. Then he was offered a "dream job" as a deputy U.S. Trade representative and ambassador to the World Trade Organization. Due to Federal Ethics regulations, he can't participate in any of the hype surrounding the movie. It's commonly accepted around town, "Oh, that's ironic! But he made the better deal by working for the WTO."  I'd just like to say, I wish the guy had written more stories!  Even if frontier survivor stories aren't my genre, the guy has talent. I think DC has a lot of people who can talk wonk policy on the WTO, but there are not a lot of writers who could help get DiCaprio his first Oscar.

A movie that I want to see is the short film Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness by fellow Smith graduate, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. This film will premier on Monday, March 7 at 9:00 on HBO. (I don't have HBO. Does anyone one to tape it for me?) This film is about honor killings in Pakistan. Over 1,000 women are murdered each year. This documentary film traces the life of one of the few survivors.

What are the films that you want to see after watching the Oscar results last night?

Inspiring Speeches: "Ain't I A Woman" by Sojourner Truth

From a speech made in 1851 to a women's convention in Akron, Ohio by African American hero Sojourner Truth. Truth was born into slavery in New York State and she was freed when the state emancipated its slaves at age 32. She made this speech at age 56 after a clergyman said that the inclusion of women's rights would damage the cause of the abolition of slavery because "Jesus Christ was a man" and "Eve tempted Adam." 

"Well, children, there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the Negroes of the South and the women of the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this talking about?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man-when I could get it-and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen them most all sold off into slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in my head; what's this they call it?  [Intellect, someone whispers.] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or Negro's rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my half-measure full?

Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? From God and woman! Man had nothing to do with him!

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, or get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner Truth aint got nothing more to say."  

Make The News You Want Read

Today is an important day in West Virginia history. Gary Southern, the head of Freedom Industries was sentenced to 30 days in jail and $20,000 fine. In 2014, Freedom Industries let 10,000 gallons of a level 2 hazmat chemical flow through two rust holes the size of quarters into the drinking water source for Charleston, WV. 300,000 people in nine different counties were hurt by Freedom's chemical spill. President Obama declared a State of Emergency when bottled water ran out for days around Charleston.

We do not traditionally hand out criminal sentences for environmental crimes in West Virginia. For example, 19 coal miners died in an unsafe mine 2 miles from my childhood home in 2006. I met the neice of one of those coal miners a few weeks ago during my recent film lecture at a Social Justice Class at West Virginia Wesleyan College. On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 2016, thirty students and I discussed how the court ordered a mere $3,000 fine and no jail time even after it found that the mine owners ignored 8 important safety violations that "directly" contributed to the deaths of 12 people. 

Today, I decided to take a simple action. Instead of merely talking on Facebook about my feelings, I made an unannounced visit to my local paper. I had 4 kids with me. I walked in and asked the receptionist if I could talk to someone about the need for more coverage on the Gary Southern case in Charleston, West Virginia.

I had a sit down meeting with the editor and a reporter. Both of them were very kind to me. The editor has a policy of coverage that I don't agree with. They see Charleston as something "down South" and they only cover the local news. I made a pitch for more coverage of the Gary Southern trial. I lost. But I won a new friend. The editor told me that anything I want to share in terms of local events with the Watershed, High School Youth Leadership Association or American Conservation Film Festival, they would be willing to cover in depth. "If you make it local, then we can talk about the Elk River Chemical Spill or the Gary Southern criminal conviction as background." 

I left the newpaper office with an idea that I'm going to make the news that I want to read. As far as I know, I was the only person in my county who made a public comment about the Source Water Protection Act. This esoteric stuff isn't seen as "mission critical" inside a low-income community.  However, the lack of a storm water draining plan is the only reason that Gary Southern is going to sleep in jail cell for the next 29 days. It's going to be my job to nurture relationships with my local news media and make sure that green events stay inside the news cycle.