It’s About Damn Time
Leo way overdue Oscar could not have come at a better time
Bigoa Machar, Arts Editor
In what’s been an annoying internet meme for years, Leonardo DiCaprio finally took home his first Academy Award on Sunday. DiCaprio claimed the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for playing a grunting, bear-fighting fur trader in The Revenant (which is an excellent movie for those who haven’t seen it yet.) It us a damn shame that Leo had to wait so long for his recognition from the Academy. After four previous nominations, Leo used his moment to discuss the importance of the environment and the world around us.
No, this is not photoshopped | Photo courtesy of the Kevin Winter/Getty Images
“Making The Revenant was about man’s relationship to the natural world,” said DiCaprio during his acceptance speech. “Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow.”
DiCaprio went on to urge the millions of those watching worldwide to take the issue of climate change to heart and do their best to make a change for the better.
“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. We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people out there who would be most affected by this. For our children’s children, and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed.”
With 2015 being the hottest year on record, the world needs more advocates like DiCaprio to step up and challenge those who doubt climate change and it’s long-term impacts. While some may choose to point fingers and laugh at him for his misdiagnosis of a Chinook while filming in Alberta last year, it doesn’t discount the seriousness of DiCaprio’s message and of climate change. Besides, nobody outside of southern Alberta has really ever experienced a chinook, so to those unfamiliar, it may seem kind of unnatrual.
So while Leo’s busy celebrating his win, we can only appreciate one of Hollywood’s best and passionate actors, both on screen and for the world around him. Meanwhile, we can only look forward to whatever memes the internet comes up with next.
