The Capri-Oscars 2016
The 88th Academy Awards ceremony took place last Monday on the 28th of February 2016 without a hitch. Despite calls for a boycott from the black community led by Jada Pinkett Smith, the Nielsen company said that an estimated 3.22 million black viewers tuned in to watch the Oscars. Highlighting Jada’s irrelevance, Oscar host Chris Rock took an underhand jab at Jada during his opening monologue. “Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited.” With a packed crowd in the Dolby Theater and millions more peeled onto their TV screens, Hollywood celebrated its biggest day of the year with a wide array of glitz and glamour.
However, the night will be remembered as the night of Leonardo DiCaprio. Arguably the most beloved actor of our generation, Leo, as he is so affectionately known, finally won the golden statue for Best Actor for the movie The Revenant. In The Revenant, DiCaprio plays Hugh Glass, a man who sustained injuries from a brutal bear attack while exploring unchartered territories. When he is robbed by his companion (Tom Hardy) and left for dead, fueled by vengeance, he mounts a mission of revenge and sets off to find the men who wronged him.
(Photo: Getty images)
Since his first nomination twenty-one years ago, it appears that six times the charm and boy, were we glad that he can finally lay claim to the award that has eluded him all these years. After the news was announced by the ever stunning presenter Julianne Moore. Everyone waited with bated breath as he sauntered towards the stage. Everyone expected him to give a moving speech, but what happened next took everyone by surprise.
After the traditional thank-you and acknowledgement speech, DiCaprio utilized the remaining time he had to remind us about climate change, an issue close to his heart (his official website almost talks about this issue exclusively). Appealing to his Hollywood peers and millions of viewers around the world, he calmly stated: “Climate change is real, it is happening right now."
"It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating."
You heard him guys. It’s imperative that we act now on climate change. With Leo the leader leading the charge, the crisis of global warming going past the tipping point might be averted. But first, shouldn’t we convince Leo to lead by example by not using his private jet for recreational flights? In 2014, our “eco warrior” took six private roundtrip private jet flights around the world. Talk about irony at its finest.
Other winners for the night included the award for Best Actress received by Brie Larson (The Room), Best Supporting Actor by Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies) and Best Supporting Actress by Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl).