Life: Love

You Missed the Oscars’ Best Scene

Stand up and cheer the real hero

“The Slap”. Everyone saw it — it was the lead item in the news bulletins and breaking news flashes, after all — and everyone has an opinion.

Well, think about it. Every person sitting in that auditorium walked up a red carpet lined with high-priced photographers feeding their images to an eager audience. Some of the outfits — as intended — were truly eye-catching.

Every seat was pre-registered with television cameras keen to catch the slightest wardrobe malfunction, the tiniest flicker of emotion at a crucial moment. Sneeze or grimace and you are suddenly the focus of global attention.

The hosts and performers on stage were all rehearsed and scripted and paid big dollars to be there.

This is Hollywood. Everyone has a fashion consultant and a team fussing over their features. Everyone has an ego, an agent, an ability to fake it.

This has not the slightest resemblance to real people doing real things.

By now you’ve heard a million things about the people involved and you’ve heard a million opinions. It was staged. It was emotional. It was a stunt. It was illegal. And on and on and on.

Forget about all that

For me, the best moment of the whole evening came when Liza Minelli, escorted by Lady Gaga, was wheeled out on stage.

Literally wheeled out. The now 76 year old star of Cabaret is confined to a wheelchair and not quite the stellar presence she once was. In a moment of confusion when Liza fumbled with her script, Lady Gaga leaned over and whispered, “I got you.”

“I know,” replied Liza Minelli, “thank you.”

And instantly there were tears in every viewer’s eyes.

A moment of genuine emotion amongst all the Hollywood fakery.

As a film student, not too long ago, I watched some of her performances, including her electrifying appearance as Sally Bowles in pre-war Berlin’s Kit Kat Klub.

We all — I hope — grow old and frail. How good is it to have someone by your side, holding your hand, lifting you up?

You may not be a legend with all of Hollywood’s glitterati giving you a standing ovation.

But you can be just as much a hero in the eyes of someone needing a hand at a vulnerable moment.

Britni