Oscars. Always inspiring.

The one day I watch actual TV content. #oscars

If you love movies, you ought to be inspired by the group of incredibly talented people who make it to the Dolby theater every year. What’s rather conspicuous is how handsome, beautiful, wealthy and accomplished they all are. But what definitely isn’t is what it must have taken each and every one of them to actually get there.

Let’s put that into perspective. I am a software developer, and there are millions of others like me!, yet it took me a good bit of challenge to get here. Now, let’s try imagining what it might have taken a Brad Pitt, or a Di Caprio, to get to where they did. And if you are thinking being blessed with great looks is all it might take, I am pretty certain a lot of folks in Hollywood might disagree.

And not having a clue about what it actually took these folks to realize their dreams, if someone asked me to take a wild guess, I would say it’s a combination of many things – talent, persistence, commitment, passion, ability to accept failures along the way & not fear them, ignoring naysayers, constantly learning & adapting, and more…

I have loved movies all my life. I’ve been fascinated by them. I watch a lot of bad ones, along with the good ones. I see a lot of good ones go nowhere (revenue and reach – wise) but what I also see is the crew that makes these good movies that go nowhere continues to make newer ones, and they sure do make it one day. And that’s absolutely inspiring. We need them to succeed to make everything we do meaningful. So yes, there is an interior motive in wanting to see them all succeed.

While I am writing this after watching the Oscars and being mesmerized by the glamour and grandeur, I feel quite the same way about a completely parallel world of movies – Tamil (my native tongue) cinema. Alright – the budgets are different and the quality is not quite the same on an average (not even close, unfortunately) but I love them just as much (and not watching at least one a week would drive me nuts!). And the inspiration I draw from that crew is no lesser. Their challenges are different but they are no easier.

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners, and honestly, there’s no real difference. If nothing else teaches how unimportant the outcome is, this has to. Di Caprio, Scorsese, Johansson and Tarantino remained nominees. They didn’t win. Like the Parasite director/winner, Joon-Ho, rightly said (and I am paraphrasing it), the Oscar belonged to all of them in that category. And in all categories.

Love the creative people. Love the movies. Without you guys, our lives would be dreadfully dull, boring and meaningless. Continue to inspire us. We know you will.