Monday, February 23, 2009

Oscar!

I love the Academy Awards.

Actually, I just love movies.

And since I'm a poor graduate student that rarely enjoys the theater experience, watching the Oscars is like watching one long movie trailer (I may love watching trailers even more than movies themselves!). Every year, anticipation builds for those 5-10 frequently nominated movies that, most likely, I have not seen, but that I have already placed in my Netflix queue - Slumdog Millionaire, the Wrestler, the Reader, Milk...

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of my Oscar experience is that I always have favorites to win, even though I have not seen the movies! I suppose I need someone to root for to intensify my Oscar experience. So, I cheered for Danny Boyle and Slumdog Millionaire as they captured the nod for Director and Picture, and I was disappointed as Mickey Rourke took a backseat to Sean Penn. Granted, I always enjoy Penn, but there's something endearing about Rourke.

After the Oscars, I was captivated as Barbara Walters interviewed him on her special program. He's a man who's wrestled (no-pun intended) with the extremes of life, and although sorrow is permanently embedded on his face, he seems to be discovering some tranquility and peace.

Mickey Rourke overturns my paradigm of Christianity. When I think of the Gospel and of the incarnated Christ, I think, "This is a man who Jesus would eat with." He is not the type to be found idyllically singing the latest contemporary worship song in church on Sunday morning, and he is not the type to hide his self-righteousness under the guise of altruism. Mickey Rourke is far from being the pretentious Pharisee; rather, he is the epitome of the tax collector and sinner. He seems to live in the presence of existential suffering and concrete regret, yet he also seems to have an abiding hope that he too may be called a beloved child of the Holy Father.

I wish I new Mickey Rourke; I think my life would be better for it.

Rourke and I probably will not cross paths, but at least I still have a part of him waiting for me in my Netflix queue.

1 comment:

Pop and Grammy said...

Hopefully, we're going to see "the underdog from the slums" this weekend and yes, Rourke was endearing on the Barbara Walters special.