Top five Jewish moments from the 2014 Oscars
Published March 3, 2014
The high ratio of Members of the Tribe in Hollywood makes the Academy Awards sort of an inherently Jew-y event. That said, from Holocaust survivors to Semitic songstresses, there were segments from Sunday night’s ceremony that certainly can be counted as overtly Jew-y. Five, to be exact. Check out our highlight reel.
1. By far the most meaningful and emotional moment was when “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life” snagged the trophy for best documentary short. The subject, pianist and oldest known Holocaust survivor Alice Herz-Sommer, passed away just last week at age 110. Upon accepting the award, director Malcolm Clarke recommended we all watch the film. Herz-Sommer, he said, will “help you live a happier life.”
2. Another tearjerker: The “In Memoriam” segment, listing those lost this year, including Harold Ramis, Sid Caesar, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Shirley Temple, and James Gandolfini. (Among those missing from the list: Cory Monteith and Dennis Farina). Jewish diva Bette Midler made the whole thing sweeter and sadder with a performance of “Wind Beneath My Wings.”
3. Finally, after the 11 p.m. mark (sorry, sleeping kiddies) “Frozen” star Idina Menzel hit the stage for a soulful, albeit speedy, rendition of the hit song “Let it Go.” Making a bigger splash than the actual performance itself was an introduction from a loopy John Travolta, who mangled the Jewish singer’s name. As expected, this was blood in the water for the Internet sharks, who went full-on mental. Within minutes, Adela Dazeem’s Twitter account was live. “THANK YOU, JORN TROMOLTO!” tweeted the “Tony Award winning star of Wocked.” Dazeem now has almost 13,000 followers.
4. Mazel tov to Spike Jonze (aka Adam Spiegel) on scoring best original screenplay for “Her,” the sci-fi romance starring Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and the voice of Scarlett Johansson.
5. It’s impossible to talk about the 2014 Academy Awards in any capacity and not mention Matthew McConaughey’s high on life (we hope) Best Actor acceptance speech for “Dallas Buyers Club.” While the Methodist celeb didn’t get Jew-y, he did get spiritual, which sort of counts, right? McConaughey gave a very loud shoutout to God, prompting the Twittersphere to wonder who garnered more applause from the audience: God or Woody Allen, the latter of whom was mentioned all too briefly by Cate Blanchett when she stepped up to grab the Best Actress trophy for “Blue Jasmine.” Good question.
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