How the Oscars Shocker Is Kinda Like Heaven
I watched the Oscars last night. I was rooting for Hacksaw Ridge to win for Picture, Director, and Actor of the Year, but I knew it was a long shot.
The general consensus was La La Land was going to sweep the awards. I saw this film, and I thought it was OK, but not deserving of so much acclaim.
I hope I don't lose my "man-card" over this, but I do like musicals — in addition to a lot of "guy" films like Gladiator, The Godfather 1 and 2 (not 3), Tombstone, The Untouchables, Braveheart, and The Patriot.
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I also loved The Sound of Music! And in its day, West Side Story. One musical that I feel is greatly under-appreciated is Les Miserables.
Back to the Oscars last night. The show began with the predictable Hollywood pontificating and self-congratulatory statements and then the awards began. Hacksaw Ridge did win in two categories: Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing. Then the Best Actress and Best Actor were chosen. I thought Emma Stone was a good choice for that. I was, however, surprised to see Casey Affleck win for Best Actor in Manchester by the Sea. To me, this film was depressing and, in the end, so hopeless — not what I go to the movies for; I see enough of that in real life. Affleck seemed to be playing the same character he always plays . . . himself.
Andrew Garfield, who played American hero Desmond Doss in Hacksaw Ridge, put in a stellar performance and, in my opinion, should have won hands down.
But the big shock came at the end of the show. The big award, the Picture of the Year, was to be announced by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. They worked together in Bonnie and Clyde years ago. As Warren opened the card to announce the picture of the year, you could see he was somewhat confused. It said "Emma Stone" as Best Actress for La La Land. But she had already won her award. Someone apparently had handed him the wrong card.
Not quite sure what to do, he handed the card to Faye Dunaway who announced "La La Land!" The cast and crew of the film climbed up on the stage and began their thank-yous, clutching their Oscars, when suddenly it was realized a mistake had been made. La La Land was not the winner for Picture of the Year; Moonlight was.
The crew from La La Land had to give back their Oscars as the crew from Moonlight took the stage. It was an amazing moment. Social media is still abuzz about it.
But when it's all said and done, the winners of these awards are quickly forgotten. Do you remember what picture won last year? Good chance you don't. I think people will be watching Hacksaw Ridge ten years from now. I'm not so sure about Manchester by the Sea.
I think some of the actors that should have won did not. And some of the actors that shouldn't have won did.
Well, I'm a preacher, so here we go with an analogy: I think that there will be a lot of surprises when we get to Heaven too. Some of the people you thought would be there won't be. Some of the people you never thought would be there will be. And the biggest surprise of all: we ourselves will be there!
The fact of the matter is I fully expect to get to Heaven — not because I deserve it, but because Jesus paid the price for my admission on the cross of Calvary. By the way, there will be an "awards ceremony" of sorts in Heaven too. It's called the Judgment Seat of Christ.
The Bible tells us, "But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value" (1 Corinthians 3:13 NLT).
This will be a judgment not about whether we get to Heaven or not, for in fact it takes place in Heaven. This judgment, or "awards ceremony," will be about rewards you will receive. Rewards that will last for eternity. Rewards greater than the Oscars, Emmys, or Grammys.
There will be no mistakes made on that day about who gets what. God keeps meticulous records.
