The Oscars are a bunch of elitist bull for the most part. However, every now and again, they surprise us by getting it right. Tonight they did so by giving Troy Kotsur the Best Support Actor award for his work in CODA.
I immediately got chills when a majority of the audience signed their applause as he walked to the stage. Then I was oohing and aahing as last year’s Best Supporting Actress Youn Yuh-jung stayed on the stage to hold his statuette so that he could sign his speech.
And what a speech it was. It was heartfelt as he thanked his director Sian Heder for the job she did. I laughed when he told the story about how he wanted to teach President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden curse words in ASL. My heart went out to him when he revealed that his father was in an accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down and was no longer able to sign.
Finally, as he left the stage, he was greeted with a standing ovation and the audience waving their hands back and forth.
It is everything that the Oscars should be! I am so happy we had that moment.
