The Academy Awards don’t matter much to those of us existing outside of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. Most of us normal folk watch the Oscars to see what the celebrities are wearing and to see who makes this year’s water cooler speech. For people in the industry, however, an Oscar is the most prestigious award an actor, director, cinematographer, etc. can win because the winners are picked by the most talented artists in the business.
    As I watched bits and pieces of Sunday’s show, I became even more convinced that celebrities have become the mouthpieces for social problems. The best way to shore up support for a cause or bring attention to an injustice is to befriend celebrities and if it is financially possible, make a film. It seems that Hollywood is making advocates of us all and that is not necessarily a bad thing. In today’s world, a speech from Bono provides more inspiration than a speech from our president.
    Recently, global warming has received a big boost of support from the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” in which Al Gore demonstrates, with the aid of a multimedia presentation, the effects of global warming. Al Gore appeared on stage Sunday night with Leonardo DiCaprio and thanked DiCaprio for promoting a green lifestyle. The film won the Oscar for best documentary feature.
    I must admit that I did not see all of “An Inconvenient Truth,” but to be fair I didn’t see any of the film’s nominated this year. I did see the much talked about polar bear animation as well as the disconcerting clip that shows cities disappearing under water as glaciers melt all over the world. Where did I see these clips, you ask? On the Oprah Winfrey Show, of course. Maybe I should rephrase what I wrote above and say the best way to advocate a cause is to go on Oprah. I believe DiCaprio also appeared on the program that day to show some of the innovations in environmentally friendly homes.
    I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Gore has been more effective in spreading the message about global warming from movie screens than he would have been in the oval office. The public seems more willing to believe and trust Gore in the professorial role he takes on in this film.
    Film is the only influential medium, as the music world has also come together to bring attention to various causes. Musicians from all genres, for example, have come together with that ubiquitous site, MySpace.com, to organize a series of concerts to benefit the Darfur region of Sudan. From the site, surfers can see the concert schedule, learn about the Darfur conflict, and buy a t-shirt to benefit Oxfam.
    In 2005, the Live 8 concerts brought arguably more attention to the G8 than any other previous effort. The intent of the concerts were to send a message to leaders that they need to do more about ending poverty around the world. I was certainly among the estimated three billion people that watched the Live 8 concerts.
    Advocating through entertainment venues is more effective today because the public is sadly more trusting of some celebrities and musicians than members of government. Maybe it takes musicians and actors who are in one country one night and in another the next night, to remind us all that the world is getting smaller. I hope the entertainment world continues to step up and come up with innovative ways for the public to learn more about what is going on around them.